The Storm is Rising - Book 1
by X-Lisa-Anne-X
Summary: June Richards, sister to Reed Richards went to help out her brother as he tries to get the proposal from Victor Von Doom. Her reward would be to go on a life changing experience into space, and by the end of it - it literally was life changing. What happens when her old love pops up on the trip? Her feelings start to come back - but will she act on them? Or refuse to get hurt?
1. Prologue

**Whole story disclaimer – I do not own Fantastic Four – only my own character.**

**I have no idea how old Johnny Storm is but I'm going with 24.**

**Scene Change ...**

**X - WHOLE STORY REWRITTEN - 26th MARCH 2016 - X**

**Fantastic 5 | The Storm is Rising | Prologue**

June grabbed her black jacket from her coat rack, quickly putting it on in a hurry. She was supposed to be meeting her brother; Reed Richards and a good friend of his, Ben Grimm outside Victor Von Doom's place of business in half an hour - to ask for financing on their project. This project entailed working with a solar flare … one that was soon to be arriving and passing Earth very soon. The amount of research that they would be able to achieve from it … in Reed's words were, 'A onetime event that could potentially save millions'.

June Richards was a smart woman, especially for someone who was only 23 years old and only had a degree in psychology and criminal law - she was considered to be very bright in those areas of expertise. Her darkened hair was brunette, but the length of that shade only reached just below her shoulders – at this point it starts to turn into a dark and dirty blonde before turning just a bit lighter. Her skin was slightly pale, mostly from the lack of sun exposure she's had most of her life and her hazel-nut eyes stood out, one of the features of her body she liked to think were her best.

Pretty much all the time - she wore skinny jeans, tanks tops and a comfortable jacket that could easily keep her warm, but wouldn't let her get too cold. She never really did like dressing up, dresses and high heels were a miracle if you saw them on her – she just wasn't that type of girl … and she never would be.

Her brother was the science geek while June had always been the more practical one in the family (although, she was considered to be quite the nerd too secretly) – it's not that she didn't like science, but it was just the fact that she's had more of an interest in the Criminal System. Initially, she had wanted to become a Homicide Detective right away after getting her degrees but a couple of weeks ago Reed called up and asked if she wanted to join in on the possible trip up into space. Which, of course, he was hoping to have funded by someone within the week – and today, it was from Victor Von Doom.

She had to bite her lip and think about it hard, her career would always be there – but a trip into space! When would she could get another chance like this? Probably … never! It would be _amazing_ to see the Earth from Space; the chance of seeing the planet for what it was – how astounding it looked from a _space_ point of view. _Not_ just a picture that could be seen anywhere on the internet.

After much begging from her older brother, her own instincts screaming at her to accept, and knowing that this may be the only chance she'll ever get at an opportunity like this – she accepted the invitation to help him. Especially if it's for a chance to go on the 'once in a lifetime' trip into the great unknown. (Even though she was afraid flying … that's going to be the main issue she'll have to deal with during this ride).

The thing about Reed was; he didn't really know how to explain things simply, he had to use complicated words and statements to prove his theories; so today – she was mostly there to make sure the point stood across - so that _idiot_ Victor Von Doom, would accept their proposal.

Victor Von Doom; she HATED him to put it quite simply – even though June had never properly worked with the guy, only seeing him on a handful of occasion, you could practically see and feel that jealousy rolling off him whenever Reed either won something or came up with a great idea that was sure to work. Victor Von Doom tried to be the best, but he only had the copious amounts of money … just not the brains … in her opinion, of course.

Now for her … June wasn't the typical 'girl' who hung out with all her friends – gossiping about guys and what the latest fashion trends were that year. To put it simply, she was a loner – someone who tried to stay out of the spotlight the best she could. Yes, she wanted to be a Homicide Detective – but only because she wanted to _help_ people and to find out what happened to their loved ones. Helping people find and feel peace knowing that the person who killed their son, daughter, father, mother, ect. was put behind bars where they should be - where they could _never_ hurt anyone, ever again.

Her life really _has_ been impeccably lonely for her because other than Reed, Ben and her best friend Susan (who was more like a sister to her) – there wasn't really anyone else – except 'HIM'. And HIM was gone for good, and that's been a big check mark in her book for a while now.

June grabbed her shoulder bag from the hotel bed before slinging it over her shoulder, making sure she had her phone and purse with her along with everything she could possibly need in the meantime. As she stuffed her face with a granola bar, her feet moved towards the door without a second to spare – not willing to make her brother late for his proposal meeting that could most likely change the future of the human race.

Or so her brother says … June's opinion?

She wasn't too sure right now.

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	2. Reunions

**Fantastic 5 | The Storm is Rising | Reunions**

June arrived at Victor Von Doom's tower within no time; she left her car parked in the visitor's lot as she ran towards the front of the building - hoping to find her brother and Ben as quickly as possible. This would be the first time in a couple of months she's seen the both of the them in person. She had arrived back in town a couple of days ago, not that they knew this of course because they still thought she was getting a hotel after coming into town _today._ But no, she wanted a few days to herself in order to get everything together, so nothing could potentially be worried about later on.

Ben Grimm; he was a great guy but they weren't too close and this was because he's Reed's best friend. Although, he was great at making with the sarcastic comments – and in time the sarcastic mechanism had rubbed off on her a couple of times – mostly when it came to Victor Von Doom, a man whom both Ben and June didn't like _at all_. Both of them just always got a bad vibe from the guy, feeling it just roll off him whenever they were in his presence.

June stopped in the centre of the walkway, her eyes darting around the crowd, trying to see and hopefully find the familiar bodies of her brother and friend. It had only taken a moment though as she recognised her brother in his normal, black tie business suit while Ben (who was about twice the size of him) was wearing a brown rain coat and a cream turtle neck sweater. The two men stood side by side – gaping up at the massive statue of … Victor Von Doom.

When June took her first look at the big piece of 'art work' (sarcastically noted) she shook her head in disgust. That guy just _loved_ to waste money on stupid things like that, it doesn't even look that good to begin with. The whole piece was made in a stale black type of metal and you could clearly distinguish where every nut and bolt was – all stapled in at the seams. You could see them easily in either day or night ... that's how bad it looked. June noticed that there was still a repair man up near the neck of the statue, he seemed to be repairing it … or finishing putting it together … she couldn't tell.

June strolled towards Reed and Ben, coming to a stop behind them silently. Neither of them even noticed she was there as Ben began to speak, "Typical of Victor Von Doom to build himself a 30-foot statue of himself." His voice was riddled with irritation, especially since they were gonna have to see this guy for more than five seconds, and not only that … they needed to convince the bastard to sponsor them with their proposal.

June sighed loudly to announce her presence, crossing her arms against her chest as she gained the boys attention. Both Reed and Ben went wide-eyed; startled by the loud sigh, making them jump with surprise. When they turned behind them, they saw June standing there – her arms crossed against her chest with a grin of amusement playing on her lips. "The statue is _obviously_ aimed at the first-time visitors – it makes the population think they're smaller than Victor himself; creating a condemned atmosphere of nervousness and pity towards yourself for when you evidently screw up."

Ben's face instantly lit up with a beam, especially with what she had to say about the damn statue, "Good thing it ain't working, huh?" And almost instantly, he wrapped his arms around June before lifted her feet off the ground. "It's so good to see you, Squirt." He told her honestly.

June chuckled but grunted at the same time, not able to stop herself from being lifted up, "Good to see you too, Benny." She felt her feet touch the ground again as he let go of her, but then an annoyed scowl was painted across her lips, "Hey! I'm only 3 years younger than you guys." She exclaimed, she had always hated the name 'Squirt' … it always made her sound like a kid again.

Ben huffed indifferently, "It's my nickname for you, deal with it." Not losing the name he came up with himself.

June rolled her eyes before turning to the brother who was just staring at her with a growing smile, it had actually been about a year since they had seen each other in person - unless you count phone calls and the occasional use of Skype, "Am I gonna get a hug then, big brother?" She asked sarcastically as she stretched out her arms to the sides – waiting for her brotherly hug.

Reed instantly brought her in tightly, squeezing her so much that she thought her air-supply was going to run out if he didn't let go soon. She patted his back, returning the hug but not as tight – she didn't need to squeeze him to death in order to let him know how much she actually missed him, "I am so happy to see you," He mumbled into her shoulder, "I missed my little sister helping me out at the lab."

June snorted as her brother gave her the chance to breathe again, letting her go, "Yeah right-" She drawled, rolling her eyes once again, "You probably danced around the kitchen ecstatically when I left." Her shoulders shrugged, "But, now you'll have to get used to me for a while now – you're stuck with me again." She teased, the grin never leaving her lips. Like she said before … the job was still waiting for her down the line.

Ben chuckled as the three of them turned towards the building of Doom, beginning to walk towards the entrance together, "Reed," He whined like a child, looking at the building with pure distain, "What are we even doing here? This guy's a fast-food, strip-mall science." His words turning into a bitter mutter.

Reed sighed, he didn't like this idea either but Victor was the only one left on the list who would even consider them, "This wasn't our first stop … in case you forgot." He paused, "Besides, Victor's not _that bad_-" He ignored the identical snorts the two people beside him where sending him at that statement, "He's just a little … larger, than life."

"Larger than life-" June drawled when she repeated his words, looking a little sarcastic again as her eyes moved towards her deluded brother, "He has a fricking _statue_ of himself in front of the building – that's pretty much an understatement, brother." She shook her head as the three of them walked through the front door … on the way to give express their proposal to Victor Von Doom … and hopefully, it'll be accepted.

…

June and Ben stood to the side with their hands sheathed in their jacket pockets as Reed explained the proposal. June had gone through it with him beforehand, reading more or less what he was going to say and to be honest, she was pretty impressed. There wasn't as much scientific goo-goo mixed in like there normally would have been – a normal person could actually understand what she read if they wanted to.

"My research suggests that exposure to a high-energy cosmic storm-" There was a digital diagram beside him, showing a video frame of a small red cloud hitting the Earth, "-borne on solar winds, might have triggered the evolution of early planetary life." The simulation continued to show how Earth-life was made while Reed continued to talk, "In six weeks, another cloud with the _same_ elemental profile-" Another identical red cloud flew across the digital space, but instead of hitting Earth like the first one – it just passed by, "-will _pass_ Earth's orbit."

Reed pressed a button on his gadget, the little device held in his hand as the image changed into a DNA simulation, "A study conducted in space could fundamentally _advance _our knowledge about the human genome, cure countless diseases, extend human life, give kids a chance to live longer, stronger, healthier –" He was suddenly interrupted by Victor's voice.

"-Turn it off," He stated, the man was sitting at his desk, engulfed inside the dark shadows of the room. June and Ben's faces turned to irritation within the moment his mouth opened – especially when the ridiculous request came out. "Please."

June stepped forwards, closer to her brother, "Reed hasn't even explained the full proposal." She told the man, her eyes narrowing.

"Oh," Victor announced, "I think I have, June." He never seemed to like June too much either … basically because she had the same brain as Reed did, just a more social one that can make people stop falling asleep before a presentation was over. "Same old Reed, always stretching … reaching for the stars with the weight of the world on his back – and June," He turned to the only female in the room, "The little sister who takes after her brother – but dreams don't pay the bills, do they?" He took something out of his desk draw, some kind of magazine before throwing it in front of them for all to see.

June squinted her eyes at the front page while taking a step forwards, getting a good look at the particular magazine Victor had gotten out. Her mind churned with confusion, '_Reed Richards – Bankrupt – Announces Grant Cutbacks._" Her jaw dropped in shock but then to a tinge of anger and hurt, especially as her brother hadn't told her that particular detail over the phone whenever they spoke to each other. He must have 'c_onveniently_' left it out. She tried to gain Reed's attention with her eyes, but he looked away – seeming to realize his mistake when he tried to avoid her looks of anger.

Reed attempted to ignore the magazine and continued to talk - trying to gain Victor as the business partner to this proposal – because if he didn't, they had no one to fund their mission into space, "You remember, when we were in school – we talked about _working together_." He moved to stand behind his digital presentation, "Well, that's what I was about to explain."

Reed ignored the look he was clearly getting from his sister, one that would say, '_We'll talk about this later!_' He silently gulped at the thought, knowing it wouldn't end well for him.

Reed should have known that June would find out eventually – she would have picked up the magazine one of these days and found out by herself – she could have even figured it out from someone just passing by in the streets.

The digital image changed into the design of Victor's space station, one that was currently stationed in space, "The storm is _deadly_, but the shields in your station's control room are designed to protect any occupants inside."

The lights went up around Victor at the moment his thumb rolled upwards on the light switch, the man in question looked over to Reed with a scrutinizing eye, "So, it's not just my money you want … it's my toys, too."

Reed gave him a sheepish grin with a small shrug, not really knowing how to answer that without just saying, 'Yes'.

"Tell me," Victor narrowed his eyes at him questionably, "If_ NASA_ doesn't trust you … then, why should I?"

June looked between her brother and Ben, sensing that the NASA information was something that they didn't expect Victor to know – and, it was _another _thing her brother had obviously left out too. June let out a frustrated breath, feeling really hurt that she was pushed out of the loop all of a sudden, especially when she was to be involved in what was supposed to happen with the proposal.

June shook her head, pushing away her thoughts for a moment before turning to Victor with a determined vibe rifting off her, "You can trust my brother because on countless occasions, his plans _have_ worked." She spoke up, gaining Victor's attention, "And I can assure you - that if you accept this proposal, you won't regret it." She promised, it was a big one – but she had a feeling that this mission would become a success.

Victor chuckled as soon as she finished, getting up from his seat, "Well, well. Reed, it looks like your little sister has made a promise for you. She must be very sure that this plan is going to work then – her promises always seem to come true in the end, when it comes to _you._"

Reed glanced over to his sister with a thankful smile, but all he got in return was just the roll of her eyes and didn't return the favour. He internally groaned – _of course_ she wasn't going to let him off that easy. "So, have you accepted?" He wondered as he turned back to Victor, the man not actually having stated whether or not they were going to be working together. But after everything June said, Victor just HAD to take the proposal – just by the fact that she had made the 'sure-to-work' promise.

Ben moved behind June, leaning down to quietly whisper something into her ear, _"Great, now we have THAT dick on board."_ June tried to cover the snort behind the hand, covering her mouth with a cough that lightly tried to cover it up.

"Just think of the opportunity that presents itself, Ben." She mumbled back at him as she controlled her amusement, careful to not let anyone but Ben hear, "If we get this – we'll get to go into space!" Ben groaned when she put it like that and his head shook from side to side. He wanted that – but why did it have to Victor who funded them? "Besides, when we get up there – insult him as much as you like. Although, keep in mind that it's illegal to throw someone out of an airlock."

_'Damn',_ Ben thought – that would have taken a bullet point off his bucket list.

"She's right, Ben." A female voice sounded from behind the two - the voice seemed highly amused, meaning she had heard pretty much everything they had been talking about behind Victor's back.

Everyone in the room turned towards the office door when they heard the familiar feminine voice - standing there was a small blonde woman about the same height as June. She wore a black business uniform and her hair was perfectly straight, but half of it was up while the other half was down.

Victor was the first one to speak, "I think you three know my Director of Genetic Research, Susan Storm." His gaze stayed on Susan as she made her way down the small set of steps.

Ben smiled, opening up his arms like he did with June earlier on, "Hey, Susie."

Susan smiled brightly at the sight of him before accepted the hug, "Hey, it's so nice to see you." She stepped back after a second with happiness in her eyes, "How's Debbie?"

Ben nodded, his mood brightening wildly at the mention of his fiancé, "Great." Watching now as Susan turned to June, a larger smile appearing on the older woman's lips.

"Hey Sue," June looked ecstatic to see her, they had been best friends (more like sisters) for years like Reed and Ben (but in boy terms). Only a second after, Susan had wrapped June into a tighter hug then Ben did earlier – but this time there was a high chance of broken bones.

Susan leant her head into the brunette's shoulder in order to tell her something in private, knowing that the younger woman didn't want Reed and Ben to know, "I'm _so_ sorry about what he did." She apologised in a low voice, making sure that the boys didn't hear.

June stepped back from her to break the hug, shrugging with a sad smile, "Its fine," She tried to not too look bothered about the topic, "It just … wasn't meant to be after all." They ignored Reed and Ben's curious looks being thrown their way - June wasn't going to tell them anything, especially since they had _conveniently_ decided to leave out more than two important factors that she should have already known about before today.

Susan nodded, "Well talk later," She pointed her finger at June, looking stern. June chuckled at the gesture but nodded, always feeling better after one of their talks anyway. She turned to Reed who started appearing slightly uncomfortable – a silence drew into the room, creating a rift between the two.

"Umm," Reed began, not really knowing what to say, "How have you been?" Saying the first thing that came to mind.

"Never better." Susan said bluntly, losing her smile completely now. She held out her hand for Reed to shake, which he did after a moment's hesitation.

Victor looked at them with an unconcerned glance, "This isn't going to be a problem, is it?" He questioned, an eyebrow quirked with question.

Susan shook her head, telling him 'No' while Reed did the exact same thing.

"Good." He exclaimed, a little too happy as he walked across the room to stand next to Susan, "Then you were just in time to hear the _great_ Reed Richards ask for help." He placed his hand on the sole of Sue's back as he continued, "You know, you made a lot of folks back at MIT feel like a Junior High science kid." He paused, the grin on his face getting bigger, "So … you'll excuse me if I savour this moment."

He glanced over to June, "And June here has made one of her famous confirmation promises again, helping her brother out - again." He ignored June when she narrowed her eyes at him again, but this time with annoyance.

Reed stole a glance towards his slowly fuming sister, he could tell she was starting to hate Victor's presence even more now. He turned to Victor, wanting to get this over with and get his 'Yes' so they could leave, "You back this mission and I'll sign over a fair percentage of any application-" Victor cut him off.

"The number's 75%" He replied, without hesitation. Not willing to make any exceptions, confirmed by the use of tone in his voice. All three people in front of him looked gobsmacked by the high number of percentage (excluding Sue whom already knew how Victor worked), "_And_ its applications and patents."

"What about his first-born?" Ben retorted sarcastically, pissed off – actually wanting to punch the douche in the nose.

June bit her lip hard but it didn't stop her from saying something, "That's absurd," She told Victor in a heated voice, equally as pissed off, "Reed has basically done _all_ the calculations and study work on his own … all you'll be doing is observing the conclusions while _we_ do all the physical and mental work up there."

"Ben-" Reed sighed from beside them – already having accepted that this might happen. "June-"

Victor ignored all three of them as he continued with his proposal, "Come on … 25% of a billion is enough to keep the lights on for a while, isn't it?" He countered, actually seeming to like the pissed of looks he was getting from the little sister and Ben Grimm. He turned to Reed full-on this time, "Maybe even pay off your fourth mortgage on the Baxter Building."

Victor smirked, holding out his hand for Reed to shake, "Deal?" Quirking an eyebrow as he waited for his answer. But even then, he already knew what it was – the answer was clear on Reed's face.

Reed had been a little conflicted before but after a sigh, he gave in and shook the hand – sealing the deal. "Well then," Victor grinned, a little too much … again, "To our future." He let go of Reed's hand before ringing his arm around Susan's waist.

June and Ben wore tight smiles as they tried to look happy about the deal being accepted – but to be quite honest, they were not pleased at all and the only thing they were looking forwards about this was the rocket flight into space, "It's funny how things turn out, isn't it?"

Reed could only manage a small smile, even _he _didn't look too pleased – but it wasn't just about the high percentage of the deal, it's when he watched Susan stand comfortably in Victor's arms, "Hilarious." Was all that he could get out.

…

Reed packed away everything into his small silver briefcase before picking it up as he, Ben and June started walking out the office. Ben turned to him slightly, "He knew about NASA," He hissed, completely forgetting the fact that they had kept _that_ little secret from the female next to them … until now. "Maybe _he_ made the call to shut us down."

June nodded with pursed lips – still hurt from earlier when she had to find out this particular fact about her brother from Victor … VICTOR! She accepted Ben's theory, though, "It makes sense, he knew you'd go to him if NASA and everyone else shut you down – meaning he'd get exactly what he wanted. The money _and_ fame for when we succeed on this mission."

But then all of a sudden, she narrowed her eyes with a twitch to her brow – looking over to her brother and upon the look - Reed wanted to cower under a bed by the amount of furiousness brewing with those hazel orbs of hers. "You-" She pointed to her brother, getting both men to stop where they were. "-are going to tell me _everything_ you 'forgot' to tell me before this proposal. No but's and NO lies!" She demanded.

June hated it when people lied to her – It made her feel like a complete idiot.

Reed nodded with haste, a motion in which turned Ben amused from, "Ok." He gulped with a hike in his pitch of voice before turning back to Ben – slowly trying to regain himself after his sister's outburst, "Think about all the people we can help if this works Ben. We got what we wanted, and that's enough."

June grinned a little, forgetting about the information she had just found out for a moment, "We'll get to go to _space_, Ben." She nudged the bigger man slightly from where she was in between the two – they started heading towards the elevator down the hallway again.

"Exactly," Reed pointed to June, "Besides, what's the worst that could happen?" He made a small scoff, shrugging while not looking at all bothered that he's literally just botched the entire fate of this mission.

June's eyes widened as he finished and instantly her arm smacked into the brother's shoulder, effectively making him wince in pain. "Oww, what the hell?" He looked hurt, turning to his little sister in a confused manner.

"You just JINXED everything!" She told him with a small hiss of agitation, "Now … the worst that can possibly happen – will happen!" Shaking her head with disappointment, she groaned – truly wanting to punch her brother even harder as she walked away from them.

There was _no way_ she was going down in that elevator with those two knuckleheads – besides, she needed ten minutes of alone time to process everything she's learned today from … Victor.

Oh, she wanted to clip her brother round the head for many things … but the fact that she's getting the chance to go into space was surprisingly overriding those feelings.

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	3. Johnny Storm

**Fantastic 5 | The Storm is Rising | Johnny Storm**

June stayed beside her older brother, standing side by side with Ben; they were on the large structure that held the transport that would take them up to the Von Doom space station. Each of them had on a regulation construction hat, a safety measure for when you're outside.

Ben, Reed and June held a pair of binoculars over their eyes as they watched the familiar figure of Johnny Storm riding towards them in a motorcycle – Johnny was leaning over the opened window car, kissing the girl in the driver's seat. June swallowed her tears at the sight, her heart cracking ever so slightly. Susan had warned her last night when they had a chat over the phone that Johnny had been selected to be one of the ship pilots – it gave June a chance to get her emotions in control before she actually saw the man who broke her heart – shattered it into a million pieces when he left her.

Ben's teeth gritted with frustration when he saw the sight of Johnny, he hated the guy – almost as much as Von Doom himself. "I can't do it," He shook his head, not knowing if he could stop himself from punching the kid in the face when they get into the same room together. "I _cannot_ do it."

"External SRV's," Reed began to explain, thinking Ben was talking about flying the ship they were going in. Ben was able to be the Co-Pilot, "Orbital system's engines, it's just like the shuttle you flew." He told Ben, not seeing his own sister's heartbroken face as she stared towards the incoming Johnny Storm.

"No," He snapped back with a punch in his voice – that wasn't what he was talking about. He already knew about all that … he just didn't want to put up this playboy hothead, "I cannot take orders from the underwear model." His voice filled with a pinch of aggravation.

Reed sighed, "Come on now, Ben." Johnny wasn't _that_ bad…

Ben narrowed his eyes towards his best friend, wondering how that mind of his works, "That wingnut got washed out of NASA for sneaking two Victoria Secret wannabe's into a flight simulator." That idiot deserved to be cut out from NASA … but not them!

June's breath caught in her throat before Ben even finished his sentence – that's another two girls added to the list since they broke up … and the girl he was kissing down there – that made three. God knows how many more girls there were.

Reed chuckled slightly, but it was forced, because now he could see where Ben was coming from, "Youthful high spirits." He tried to counteract but it was useless, even _he_ knew that.

Ben raised an eyebrow, giving him a dumb look, "They crashed it into a wall," He exclaimed with high volume, making it sound like what happened in the flight simulator was the most impossible thing to accomplish, "A flight simulator." He turned to June for some help in his argument, "J, help me out, here." He begged.

June looked up and towards them when she heard Ben call her name, "Huh?" She hasn't even been paying attention, especially after they started to mention the other girls in cahoots with Johnny.

"Woah, J," Ben murmured in surprise and slightly widened eyes, seeing the few tears trailing down her cheeks. His eyebrows furrowed in concern, "You alright, Squirt." Reed turned to his sister the moment he noted the concern in his best friend's voice – he too, was shocked to see the evident water trails falling on her face.

June sniffed deeply once and quickly wiped off the tears from her face, she must have been so deep into her mind that she never even realised the tears overflowing. She cleared her stuffy throat, "Um, yeah. Ben's right – and if it I had known HE was coming, I probably would have stayed at the Baxter Building and forgot all about this." And with that said, she walked away, ignoring her brother's call of concern.

June jogged down the metal stairs in a rush, not wanting to answer any questions that Ben and her brother have for her. Right now; she _really_ didn't want to look like a love-sick fool when Johnny could waltz in any second – he'd would probably laugh at her if he saw her potentially crying over him.

Ben and Reed watched her go reluctantly, their eyes full of not only concern but also complete confusion. "What just happened?" Reed wondered to himself, but the question could be answer for Ben too.

Ben's face crunched in thought, "Maybe you should ask Sue?" He said after a moment, letting out a little shrug to his shoulders. "She seems to know everything about that girl." He shook his head, wanting to get himself back to the subject they had been talking about. "Back to topic – _I can't work with him!_"

Reed sighed, putting up a pleading face while silently making a mind note to ask Sue about his sister later, "When have I _ever_ asked you to do something you absolutely said you could not do?" He questioned, he really needed him best friend and wingman with him on this trip – he couldn't survive seeing Victor and Sue together, not on his own.

Ben just held up his right hand, showing all four fingers and his thumb, "Five times." He counted, he always kept a short note of these things stored in this head of his.

Reed frowned, "I had it at four." He stated, his brows furrowing when Ben turned around, beginning to go down the same set of stairs June traveled down earlier.

Ben was already half-way down the stairs by the time he confirmed, "Well this makes five!" He yelled up to him before disappearing, leaving Reed to watch out in thought, wondering what could have caused his sister to cry. He knew her fright to fly was an issue, but it didn't feel like that was THE issue. Now, he was gonna have to ask his ex a question about his sister; in order to find out what's been going on. He had a feeling that this information was something he should already know, but didn't look close enough to actually find out about it.

…

June sat to the side on a small couch; in the small 'Getting Ready' lounge where everyone who was going on the shuttle, was supposed to meet. Opening her sketch pad, she began drawing – thankful that her brother hadn't come to ask why she had been crying earlier. Maybe she could play it off and say it was her nerves of flying again? But, even then, she didn't think Ben would take that excuse even if Reed did.

Which proved to be partly right when Ben came over, sitting down next to her on the arm of the chair, "Hey, Squirt."

June wore a pair of black jeans, a grey short sleeve tank top that hugged her curves and a pair of black boots with no heels on them. Her long hair was pulled into a simple pony tail – deciding that this style would stay like that for the entire trip and back.

June glanced up at him, giving him a small smile, "Hey, Benny." Her head swung to the side slightly when she saw her brother next to a computer – most likely looking over the facts just one more time.

"So, why were you crying, J." Ben wondered bluntly with a lowered voice, leaning his elbows on his knees – staring at her curiously.

June didn't look up at him, only shrugged, "Nerves for going flying again-" She lied. Her eyes momentarily moved up to see Ben's face and he just gave her a look at clearly said, 'Yeah right' with a small audible scoff added in.

He scoffed, "No way," Ben shook his head, "That's is not it. You're lying through your teeth - I may not know you as well as Reed over there, but I can still tell when someone is lying." June looked away, trying to bring her attention back to the sketch pad in her hands.

June paused - her pencil hovering over the page slightly but didn't look back towards him, "Johnny's the reason." She finally admitted with a small voice. Hoping internally that Ben hadn't heard the reason she just said.

Ben frowned, silently thinking she was just trying to re-direct away from the real reason, "I know he's a dick and a playboy," He huffed, "But it's not like you _dated _him yourself." He chuckled at impossibility, but when he saw the serious and sad face on Reed's little sister's face – he stopped, his laughter being thrown into a dumpster, "Oh…" Realizing he had been right on point.

June nodded sadly, "We dated for years, and I never told Reed." She told him with an unconcerned shrug, praying that he wouldn't tell Reed after this conversation. The last thing she needed was for her brother to go on the _'Little Sister Protection Detail'_ while at the same time, going into a massive fit.

"Then, when I told him that I got accepted to college … he just left me – just like that and then the couple days before I left - I saw him with a different girl each time." She continued, trying to keep herself from crying again when the vivid memories returned to her, "I guess he moves on pretty quickly, huh?" After a moment, she looked down at the book in front again before continuing to sketch – trying to drain the depressing thoughts out of her mind before it broke her.

"Captain on the bridge!" Someone shouted to the side, causing Ben to stand up quickly and straighten his posture up – thinking the voice was indeed the Captain they would be flying with. Ben turned around to the voice and was engulfed in a white flash from a camera – something of which he definitely wasn't expecting.

Johnny grinned, looking down at the picture he just took, walking towards Ben, "Digital camera: $254. Memory stick: $59." Ben clenched his fists with hardened narrow eyes, torn between punching the guy in his idiotic face – or kicking the kid where it hurts for hurting June. The brunette who sat on the chair still, trying to concentrate on her sketchpad rather than the sound of Johnny's voice. "The look on your hard-ass former CO's face-" Reed secretly grinned when he saw Ben's face – the guy looked ready to pummel Johnny's face in. But, suddenly, his attention was brought back to the computer before anyone saw his reaction, "-when he finds out you're his junior officer." Johnny placed his bag on the floor, smirking arrogantly. "Priceless."

June finally placed her sketchpad back into her bag before heading over to her brother - silently recognising that Johnny was giving her a look of shock as she moved across the room. Maybe he wasn't told she was coming as well? _Great_ … just what she needed!

June sat beside her brother, ignoring her ex's stare, "Want me to take a look too?" She asked, holding out her hand for something to do besides nothing. She needed her mind distracted from her former lover - the sketching didn't seem to work anymore.

Johnny was just to damn loud.

Reed looked up with a grateful smile and gave her some figures to look at - getting her to make sure they were correct so nothing would go wrong on this mission. Especially while they were actually up there in space.

Ben walked over to Johnny with still narrowed eyes, zipping up the top of the twit's uniform with a hardened expression, "Thank you," Johnny chuckled, quickly taking away his shocked gaze from June before reverting back to his normal self, "That's so sweet."

"I can handle the ship." Ben told him confidently, no doubt in his mind or heart, "I can even handle Mr. Blonde Ambition," He turned away from the younger man, walking over to the small cupboard that held his uniform – the one he had to wear during the mission – the same ones as everyone else had to wear too. "But, I don't know whether I should be flying or doing the Swan Lake in these suits." He got out his own blue uniform that Johnny was wearing right now – showing it up for everyone to see. "I mean, who the hell came up with these?"

June hadn't put hers on yet, she was sure that it would bring out her breasts slightly and with Johnny in the room now – she didn't feel comfortable wearing it until the very last minute.

"Victor did." Susan's voice came through as she walked into the room, carrying jumpsuits for everyone but Johnny and Ben (who already had them on their person), "The synthetics act as a second skin, adapting to your body's individual needs."

June saw her brother eyes widen; she was thinking it was because of what the suit did to Susan's body – like June had originally thought, the suit clearly brings out women's breasts. He placed the stuff he was holding to the side and walked up to Susan.

Johnny grinned, turning to Ben with a mocking gaze, "See, now that means it keeps the hot stuff - hot, and the cold stuff - cold."

"Shut it, Johnny." June snapped at him, making him momentarily flinch before shutting up. June couldn't help but feel strong annoyance from his voice now. She didn't even look up from all the work she was reading but could clearly tell he was back to staring at her. Maybe she should have just kept quiet?

Reed went up to Susan, "Wow-" He breathed, "Fantastic." Sue slowly smiled, thinking that he was talking about the way she looked in the outfit; but her excitement dimmed dramatically when he started to talk about the material it was made out of, "Material made from self-regulating unstable molecules." He grabbed the uniform from Ben and inspected it closer, "I've been working on a formula for this." Completely ignoring how Susan's breasts squished together in the suit with a clear line through the middle, something any boy would drool over.

Sue gave him a sarcastic smile without happiness, "Great minds think alike," She quoted with slight distaste before handing one of the jumpsuits to Ben with smile, being her usual polite-self.

"Thanks sweetie." Ben silently sent her an apologetic look for how Reed was acting, knowing that she had been trying to get Reed to notice her. He chuckled slightly when he watched how Sue just threw Reed's jumpsuit into his face before walking away towards June.

"Here you are." Sue passed June her jumpsuit with more care than she had done with the younger woman's brother.

June smiled at her gratefully as the blonde walked out of the room - she got up from the chair before placing the paperwork back onto Reed's section, having not found any problems with his calculations or workings. She headed over to where her own bag, mindlessly looking through it to see if there was anything to do.

"I didn't know you were coming." Johnny's confused voice sounded behind her, she didn't hear it but there was a twinge of happiness mixed into his tone.

June didn't look towards him, "Yeah," She replied emotionlessly, "Why? Not happy to see me?" Her voice suddenly turned sarcastic as she kept rummaging through her bag – now making sure she had everything she needed.

"No," He immediately denied, like he was desperate to keep talking to her. At that note; June turned around, looking at him confused, "Um, how are you feeling?" He wondered after a second of thought, looking a lot more awkward as he rubbed a hand behind the back of his neck, nervously, "The flight shouldn't be that bad – it's a calmer ride than being on an actual plane." June raised an eyebrow at the information, "You know – because of your fear of flying." Explaining his statement.

"Oh, so you actually care, now?" She scoffed hard before grabbing her uniform, making her way towards one of the changing booths over to the side, "Don't worry that tiny, little head of yours!" She yelled back at him, pissed – not noticing the sad look he wore on his face as she left the main room.

Johnny couldn't blame June for acting the way she did; he had, after all, broken her heart.

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	4. Von Doom Space Station

**Fantastic 5 | The Storm is Rising | Von Doom Space Station = Doom**

Once the shuttle had attached itself to the 'Von Doom Space Station', June couldn't have been gladder. Johnny had been right when he said it was better than an actual plane ride, and it was also lucky that she had taken a couple of sickness tablets before actually getting onto the space machine. She didn't feel queasy like she would've done without them. Obviously, the specialists at Victor's company had to make sure that they were okay for her system – right before her body was to go through the process of leaving Earth's atmosphere.

June stepped onto the actual part of the Station with her brother, taking in a deep breath as she realised that her body was still slightly shaking from the ride. "ETA until the cosmic event: 9 hours." Reed told everyone as he walked in with June beside him - checking to make sure she was ok. There weren't many people who did know about her fright and sickness towards flying, neither of their parents had the problem, nor did Reed so it was just something that she had to grow up with, rather than it being genetic.

Johnny turned to Ben with a mocking grin, "If you're good, maybe next time daddy'll let you drive." He teased the big guy as he and Ben carried in all the equipment that was needed for later. Victor went ahead of all of them to get to the Commanding Station first … basically, what he always did to exert power between a group.

"You keep talking and there won't be a next time." Ben mumbled under his breath, still pissed at him for a number of things.

While Reed stopped at the wall-size window, June stopped as well but further up the hallway. She looked down at the Earth and it was such a breathtaking sight to see. "Amazing isn't it?" She heard Johnny behind her, using his soft voice she used to love.

Seeing the Earth from Victor's station was indeed a beautiful sight - rather than having to see it on the internet or on a digital schematic.

June didn't turn around but she nodded anyway, "Yeah … it really is." Then, without saying anything else to him, she turned around and followed Sue and her brother towards the centre of the Space Station – the place where everyone was supposed to meet up.

…

Everyone made it to the centre of the Space Station and put down the needed equipment, inquiring to know where the stuff would actually need to go before they took it any further. "We can monitor the cloud's approach and observe the tests from here." Susan spoke as she entered the room, holding her own silver case to carry.

Ben looked around a little skeptical but hoped to be reassured, "Is it safe?" He questioned, beginning to take off his jumpsuit that had been on top of the blue suit everyone was given.

June came up beside her brother and Ben, "According to both our calculations and observations, the shields should protect us from the full blast of the cloud." She told him, gesturing to herself and Reed as she assured. June began looking around the room as well – ignoring Johnny curious, yet impressed gaze when she spoke highly of her work.

Ben raised an eyebrow at her, _"Should?" _He repeated a word he really didn't like.

Victor headed over to the side, taking a step towards them, "What's the matter, Ben?" He taunted, liking the way he was always able to rile Ben up, "Getting paranoid in your old age?"

Reed interrupted before either Ben or Victor said something they would regret (or not), "Let's start by loading those samples. Get your suit ready Ben." He told his best friend, before directing his attention over to his sister, "Can you help him, June?"

Ben turned around while June rolled her eyes, ready to go with her brother's best friend anyway, "So, I see you're still doing the heavy lifting Ben. And you June, I see you're still following your brother's orders … without question." Ben and June paused the moment the man started directing his speech towards them - both had to clench their fists. It was hard to get June's emotions hyped up like this – and Victor Von Doom won second place in those ranks – with Johnny being first, winning the award for being the biggest douche and heartbreaker on the planet.

Victor turned to Reed with a fake concerned look, "Maybe you should have stayed in the lab, fieldwork never suited you." He chided.

June gritted her teeth, stopping herself from punching the guy and ruining the deal her brother made, "And, I see you're still a 'Straight A' douche bag." She commented, turning on her heel to stand next to her brother, "Reed does the talking, Ben does the walking and I make sure everything gets done properly." Her eyes were narrowed at the man. "Do you have a problem with that?" She cocked an eyebrow at him, almost daring him to retort back.

Victor looked at her, unconcerned, "So Ben, take a walk and June, you make sure he gets it done properly then." He countered, "Actually," He continued, standing up straighter before glancing over to Susan, the blonde who stood across the room, "If you'll excuse me, I need to borrow Susan for a moment." Susan turned towards him, giving off a small smile, but was initially confused as to what he may need her for.

"Ben," June muttered beside the man she was calling - she gestured her head behind them as he glanced over to her. He nodded with understanding, following her down the hall with Reed by their side.

…

Johnny and Ben were in the 'Setting Up' room of the Space Station. Johnny was currently trying to help Ben get ready in his astronaut suit; making sure the man had everything ready in order to do the job required on the outside of the Station. This is the job Ben was supposed to do while June and Reed were in the control room – making sure everything was going according to plan.

"Please, tell me your guy's not trying to rekindle things with my sister again," Johnny grumbled, already like the fact that his sister was with a rich and powerful guy rather than someone like Reed – although, he didn't mind too much because June was there.

He missed her so much, he never really noticed it until he walked away. Johnny had been both shocked and happy to find out that June was coming along, the last time he saw her was when he left their relationship in shambles - just before she was heading to college. He had his reasons for leaving, though – although he'd probably get punched in the face (or the nuts) because everyone will think it's the most ridiculous reason of all of them.

"Of course not," Ben denied, Reed hadn't been trying that much at all - to his disappointment, anyway, "It's strictly business."

"Yes," Johnny grabbed Ben's arm to program something into it – he didn't believe a word the man said, "But, his eyes say differently, don't they?"

"Hey!" Ben stopped Johnny for a second, making the guy look up to him, "Two hearts got busted last time. Maybe she's not over it either." He paused, thinking back to earlier today, "And what about June?" He continued, hoping to hit a sharp point in the arrogant, young man. "Sounds to me like another heart was broken in our mists and she's definitely not over it."

Johnny swallowed hard when Ben mentioned June, "Wow, Dr. Phil," He muttered sarcastically, taking his mind away from ultimately the worst decision he's ever made. "That's deep. Let me think about it." He turned around, going over to grab something that Ben was supposed to be taking with him outside, "You got Victor, more money than God, stud of the year," He passed the subject surrounding June, sticking to his own sister's dilemma, "And you got Reed, the world's dumbest smart guy, worth less than a postage stamp." He walked back to Ben, moving the guy towards the portal he was supposed to be exiting at. The place where he'll go once Johnny was secured on the other side. "That's a real toss-up." He clicked off an object attached to Ben's hip, placing it into the big man's gloved hand.

Ben rolled his eyes from under his helmet, "Don't trouble your tiny little mind." Saying the same thing June had pretty much yelled back on Earth, noticing clearly that the kid in front of him steered clear of the subject when it came to June. _Interesting…_

Johnny patted him on the shoulder before stepping out of the section that would lead to open space, "Don't wander off now, boy." He imitated before pressing a button, locking the doors that would securely keep any oxygen inside. Johnny didn't exactly want to be suffocated, and neither did anyone else on the Base.

…

June stood beside her brother as they went through, together, all the recent reports that were complete, "Here." She passed something over to Reed before picking up another report to observe.

"Thanks." He nodded, before opening up the folder that was given to him. He was about to start reading it but paused for a second, slowly looking up to the younger sister who started reading the next file in front of her – mumbling words to herself as she worked everything out to in her head, checking the answers. "Junie?" He used the name he's always used with her when no one else was around – June had occasionally called him 'Re' in her younger years as well. It was one of the ways they stayed connected as siblings; basically because it was only them left in the family.

"Hmm." She hummed distractedly, her eyes still following the words on the page in front of her.

"Uh, is there something … um-" _'This is harder than I thought'_ He mumbled to himself internally, grumbling to figure out the right words to say.

June stopped reading before turning to look at her older brother, a curiously raised eyebrow following the direction, "Is there something … what?"

Reed sighed, pushing himself to ask, "Is there something you're not telling me?" He finally asked, "Ben seems to know what it is … and I don't think it's because of your flight sickness." She gave him a confused look, "You were crying back on that structure before we left." He got to the point.

June sighed, shaking her head, previously knowing this was going to happen – but, why now? "Doesn't matter." She tried waving him off, not wanting to go deeper into the subject – or at all, in fact.

Reed closed the folder he was holding, turning his full attention towards the only living relative he had left, "You're my sister, and of course it does!" He exclaimed, feeling hurt that she didn't seem to wanna talk to him about something that was hurting her.

June scoffed at the last part alone, looking back down at her folder with a shake to her head, "Oh, really?" She replied sarcastically, "Well then, if I'm your _sister_ then why did I have to hear about you getting cut from NASA AND the fact that you turned bankrupt?" She wasn't done, "From one of the two people I currently hate to guts at the moment, huh?" Her voice rose with anger, looking back up at him with blazing eyes.

Reed's eyes widen during her speech, it wasn't often at all that his little sister got angry – maybe irritated, but NOT angry. He was about to open his mouth to apologise for his lack of communication, he honestly forgot all about that and she had a right to be angry at him. But, his thoughts were suddenly stopped when a beeping sound came from the computer between the two.

Both Richards siblings glanced down at the computer, confused, now forgetting completely about the argument they were currently supposed to be battling in. "Oh, my god." June breathed in horror when she saw a heart-sinking message pop up on the screen. It was the countdown till the cloud would hit the Station, and it was about to connect with them in just under 10 minutes.

Reed's eyes blazed with shock, not believing what his mind was trying to process, "That can't be right." He uttered, blinking a several dozen times – but the message was still there. The computer's automatic voice followed closely behind, _'Event threshold in T-minus 9 minutes and 47 seconds.' Reed shook his head, unable to explain what was happening. "_That's impossible it should be _seven hours_."

June blinked herself back into reality, finally gaining back control of the more rational side of her, "We were wrong and it's coming much faster than we thought," Her mouth dropped as she realised something, "Reed!" He looked at her, "Ben's out there!" Speaking a horrified thought.

Reed glanced at the screen one more time to fully verify what the were seeing before turning back to his sister, "Get Johnny to bring Ben in - I'll tell Sue and Victor." He began before June took off in a sprint down the hallway, "AND HURRY!" He shouted out to her, beginning to run too but in the opposite direction, needing to inform Sue and Victor of what's happening _way_ ahead of schedule.

…

"Johnny!" June screamed as she neared the room the man and Ben were supposed to be working in. Panic was lacing through her voice as she ran through the door, "We need to get Ben in now!" She insisted, ignoring anything she felt for the guy right now – at this moment, Ben and his survival was the top priority.

Johnny was startled to see her, let alone her speaking to him. His mind finally registered what she had just said, about the fact that they needed to bring Ben in. "Wait - what?" Why? This was clearly what they were supposed to be doing, right?

"The cloud will be here in minutes - not hours!" She ran over to the glass window that let them see out to what Ben was doing, the big man was oblivious to the situation at hand. "We were wrong!" She tapped her ear communication device, connecting to Ben's helmet in order to talk to him. "Ben, you need to come back inside now!" She ordered, not goofing around at all, her tone completely serious.

But, despite how serious she sounded - Ben obviously thought she was joking about, "I ain't done arranging your brother's flowers yet, Squirt."

"Ben!" June screamed back, needing him to listen, "Turn around!" She watched as Ben turned around like she said, his eyes widening to see a massive darkened red cloud coming their way – June didn't even notice when Johnny sent her a concerned glance as he moved beside her.

"Guys," Ben's panicked voice came through, believing her fully now with all his heart – this was just as June felt Reed come up beside her, "I'm not gonna make it." His voice was shaking, his body stiffening on the structure he was holding onto.

"Ben!" Johnny spoke this time, he seemed as equally concerned now since this could possibly hurt June … and the rest of them if Ben didn't get into the Station before the cloud was to hit their part of the Station. Maybe the walls will be good enough? But that thing looked like a beast. "You gotta jump – it's the only way!" Ben took his advice without a second thought and jumped before even the sentence had finished. "Come on Ben … you got this."

June kept mumbling under her breath in worry and she didn't even realise that her hand had slipped into Johnny's, her mind too focused on Ben making it or not.

Reed turned to Johnny as Ben's body neared the Station, "Get ready to close the portal." He commanded and June lost the feeling of warmth from her hand as the hothead left her side.

Ben was able to get inside just in time and the portal closed instantly after the cloud pushed him in, smashing him again the window – but after a second Johnny's and the Richards sibling's eyes widen when the red cloud pushed through the barrier and all of them were engulfed in the red light. They each let out a pained scream as the pulses from the cloud hit them again, and again, and again. Sue had been the last one to be hit by the cloud; she had just entered the room the moment Ben was hit.

June felt her body lighten in weight but her skin felt cold and watery, her eyes barely glanced to the side to see Johnny getting slammed like her and Reed – it only took a few seconds before the whole world in her eyes went black and she passed out.

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	5. How did I do that?

**Fantastic 5 | The Storm is Rising | How did I do that?**

June groaned lowly as her eyes blinked open, a stream of harsh light hitting staining her face. It took a moment to adjust her vision to her surroundings and could vaguely feel something gripping her left hand, like someone was holding it. The grip tightened around her it as the person realised she was waking up.

"June," A male voice breathed, relief seeming to flow out of his mouth.

She used her free hand to wipe her eyes, removing any sleep that had accumulated there while she had slept. Wait? What happened, she didn't remember going to bed. But, then everything came back to her – the mission to the Von Doom Station, the fight with Reed about what she was hiding from him and what he was hiding from her … being hit by cloud waves as it burst through the portal and hit them. The pain she felt, but also the strange things that went through her body when it hit.

It must have been a side effect – were they infected with something?

June's eyes opened, her vision clear. She looked over to her left side, thinking it was her brother that was holding her hand but her eyes widen in shock when she saw it was Johnny holding her hand – looking concerned; something she hadn't seen in a long time.

"Johnny?" She croaked before clearing her throat – it was like she hasn't used her voice in days. She slowly, yet confusingly pulled her hand away from his, ignoring the hurt expression he wore in his features. She started to sit up in the bed, trying not to look at him as she assessed her surrounding properly, "Where am I?" Her eyes gazed around the room, seeing that she was lying in a clean double bed - but it was much nicer than the one she had back home – there were medical monitors around her bed, they must be monitoring her body for anything bad.

Looking down at her clothing, she seemed to be wearing a pair of red plaid pyjama pants and a grey tank top – a set she had originally put in her mission bag before they left Earth. Her eyes suddenly noticed the light brown fluffy boots over to the side, ones that she'd usually wear around her apartment.

"Um," He began, trying to form a grin on his face – ignoring the loss of warmth his hand was experiencing, "We're in isolation … in one of Victor's facility's. They didn't want to take the chance that we got infected by something when the cloud hit us … back up at the Space Station."

June nodded, getting that idea from the fact that she's in some kind of medical room, "That's understandable – they wouldn't want anyone catching something if the cloud had given us an infection – something that could possibly wipe out the planet." Her eyes caught the large pot of fresh white lilies next to her bed. Reed must have put them there. She pointed to them, "Did Reed come in while I was asleep?" She questioned, finally looking up at him this time.

"No," Johnny shook his head for a second but then corrected himself, "Well, yes, he's come in every hour for the past two days you were asleep - but those lilies weren't from him," He looked down slightly, embarrassed, "They're, er, from me." He saw June look at him with appreciation, "I remembered that lilies were your favourite. The nurse tried to put rose's next to your bed, but then I reminded them that you were allergic."

June bit her lip, she was really getting confused as to why Johnny was trying so hard to get under her skin again – especially when _he_ was the one who left _her _in the first place, "Thank you," She told him sincerely, giving him a small smile, "I didn't think you'd remember." She muttered to herself honestly. Really, she thought that when he left her – he'd forget _everything_ about her.

"Where is my brother?" June recalled what Johnny just said - about Reed coming in to see her every hour or something.

Johnny grinned to himself, looking down at his watch before starting to count down, "3 … 2 … 1 –" As soon as he spoke the last number, the room door opened on the right side of the room - revealing Reed walking in … wearing what looked to be old grandpa clothing.

As soon as Reed entered the room, he glanced over to the bed – thinking that his little sister was still going to be asleep. However, his emotions turned to delight when he saw her sitting up in bed – looking at him with a small smile and looking completely healthy. "June," He breathed in relief before he rushing over to her, embracing his little sister into a _very_ tight hug. "Thank god you're okay." He mumbled into shoulder ear, not letting go anytime soon if he could help it.

June chuckled, patting her brother on the back, "Of course I'm okay." She assured him, "Besides, it takes more than a cloud like that to bring _me_ down." She rolled her eyes, but was happy anyway as he unraveled his arms from her body. They hadn't even realised that Johnny had left the room, giving them the needed family moment.

Reed must have seen June looking for Johnny, "He was here the entire time, you know." He told her. Ben had finally blurted out to him what had happened between Johnny and his little sister. He HAD wanted to punch the guy all the way to Africa for what he did to her, but he had noticed that ever since the kid woke up – he's been beside June the entire time. Except for when he needed a drink down the hall, something of which the doctor had recommended.

Maybe there was hope for Johnny after all?

June frowned, surprised, "He was?" Not expecting that.

Reed nodded, moving so he was just sitting on the side of the bed, face-to-face with her, "I know what happened between you two as well." He admitted, feeling a little guilty for continuously trying to pry the information from his best friend. "Ben told me when he woke up a half an hour ago." He let out a breath, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you about my problems either, you were right up there." Referring to the Space Station. "And you were right, there was no reason for you to tell me anything … especially when I hadn't even been completely honest with you in the first place - about my problems."

June snorted, "I'm always right," But quickly paused, thinking about the incident that got them all into Quarantine, "Well, 95% right." She corrected. Shaking her head slightly, the thought of the others popped into her mind. "How are the others?" Worry came flooding back when she thought about Sue - Reed hadn't mentioned her yet.

Reed smiled slightly, "Sue should be waking up some time today - like you did. Everyone else is up and about. We should be able to go home after today since the tests will be completed and assessed by then."

June sighed with relief, nodding, "Okay, great." Very much liking the idea of 'Home' right now.

Reed patted her covered leg before getting up, "You should get some more rest, they'll be some food out later." With that, he kissed her forehead before walking out of the room, leaving June alone to ponder on everything that happen up at the Station.

…

June wandered down the hallway with a grey waterfall cardigan wrapped around her, still clothed in her pyjamas. She now had her light brown fluffy boots on, the ones that were beside her bed when she woke up.

June was feeling sick to death of just sitting in that room alone, left with her thoughts, wondering when someone was going to come back and keep her company. She even started to hope Johnny would come back – that's how low it got. Her feet paused beside Johnny's room, and against her morals she poked herself inside so see if he was there.

There had been questions upon questions buzzing around in her head, she wanted to know why he was suddenly so concerned and worried about her. He left her to be a playboy that every girl wanted to date/fuck – he doesn't love her anymore … right?

Upon looking in, she stopped short when her eyes caught Johnny's figure beside the bed - he was putting on some snow pants, walking in and out of the connecting bathroom that all their rooms had. Unconsciously, her eyes wandered over the impeccable muscles in his arms, he still looked good. Her mind quickly shook it off, not wanting it to proceed any further – but, she was wondering where Johnny thought he was going in winter gear … especially when he was supposed to be letting the doctors do their jobs.

"Where do you think you are going?" She asked with suspicious eyes gleaming at him, bringing his startled attention to her, "We're supposed to be in _Quarantine_ – we're not allowed to go anywhere until we've been cleared." She crossed her arms over her chest, looking stern.

Johnny chuckled at her posture, remembering back to the good old days, "You did that all the time." He reminisced, doing up his pants.

June frowned, not understanding where he was coming from, "Do what?"

He smirked, glancing over to her, "Crossing your arms over your chest, looking stern like you're always scolding someone – that person always knows then they're doing something bad."

She just looked at him, interested as to what else he thought about her. She shook her head again, this _so_ wasn't the time, "Where are you going?" She repeated the question, putting a little impatience into her voice for how he wasn't answer her question.

Johnny threw on a thin shirt, covering his upper body, much to June's silent dismay, "I don't know if you've noticed or not, but just outside that window is the sickest part of the snowy hill that runs this side of the Alps."

June nodded, having seen the sight outside her wall-sized window, "Yeah, I noticed when I was in my room." It looked really nice outside, but they weren't allowed to go outside until they were cleared. "We're still not allowed to go out there, Johnny." She reminded him, but why bother? He wouldn't listen to her anyway.

He threw on his red jumper, "Yeah, I know … and _you_ know I've never been very good with rules. They've been checking us for days now and still haven't found anything." He shrugged, grinning. "I say we're in the clear, they just want to use us as puppets."

June sighed after a moment, knowing there's no way she was gonna get him to back out of his idea, "This isn't a ski resort," Pointing to the snow board that was beside his bed. Johnny put on his boots and walked up to her, placing his hands on her shoulders gently. But for June, it sent heat to her skin at the touch, "Come with me," He told her with a wider grin, looking excited, "I have a spare ski's and you know how much you want to." He tried to persuade her.

June groaned, it was true – her and skiing were practically melded together and that snowy hill did look BEYOND amazing, "But-" Trying to find an excuse, if she accepted his offer then it would mean the two of them would be going skiing together, again – like they always did back then. She couldn't believe how easy she began to cave in, even after promising herself she wouldn't.

June slowly began to realize that the more time she spent in the same presence as her old boyfriend (love), her feelings slowly started to creep back in – making his presence nice to be in. She needed to be careful though, her heart got broken once before – she couldn't stand to go through it again. "You'll get us in trouble." She murmured weakly, but a small smile slowly formed on her face, imagining and knowing what he was going to say next.

Johnny stood up straighter, almost looking proud, "_Trouble_ is my middle name." He grinned before placing a quick kiss on June's cheek – successfully making her cheeks blush, "I'll see you up there, Junie." He walked past and out the door, letting her get her head back together.

June shook her head, not completely understanding what had just happened but was barely able to contain the smile as she followed him out. She didn't even comment on the fact that he used a nickname she used to let him call her, the same one that Reed used most of the time when they were alone.

After a moment, she went to go find some snow gear to use. Her insides filled with happiness when she realised today she'll be snowboarding with Johnny again. Her heart ignored the voice that told her he was just going to break her again – but right now, she didn't care.

…

June was sat beside Johnny, they're legs hanging out of the helicopter in full snow gear – ready to take the hill by storm. Johnny had gotten the helicopter to bring them up to the very top of the snowy hill, letting them ski/snowboard the way down.

Johnny turned to her, "All right, I think you should stay to the right." His voice was raised into a shout so she could actually hear him over the noise of the propellers. "The left side might give you trouble."

June was practically bouncing with excitement, adrenaline shooting through her veins as she pulled on the snow goggles – it's been months since she's skied. Johnny turned to the Pilot, "I think we should drop 10 more feet!"

June glanced over to Johnny, "I don't know why you bother, Johnny," She smirked, teasing him, "I _always_ beat you in the end." She gave him a mock wave before pushing herself off the edge of the helicopter and with a loud 'Whoop', her feet hitting the ground, instantly started to slide down the hill on her ski's.

Johnny chuckled, shaking his head, "I love that girl," He turned to the Pilot, "_That's_ my future wife." He said with determination before putting on his own googles, jumping without hesitation out of the flying vehicle, following June down the snowy hill.

Johnny and June skid down the hill together; but June was further ahead as usual. "Show off!" She yelled to him with a laugh, watching as went over a rock before doing a flip off the edge - he laughed in return, passing her.

"Check this out!" He called back to her, as he moved past her – not realizing that his uniform was smoking, slowly turning into something that looked like fire.

June's eye widened in horror when the fire became more apparent, especially after he did another flip. She slipped further beside him, "You're on fire!" She shouted to him, fearful that he was going to burn to death – although, she was at a loss to where it came from in the first place and why he wasn't starting to scream in pain.

"Thanks, you're amazing too!"

"No!" June shouted at him, glancing at him but having to make sure she didn't fly into a tree, "I mean you're ON FIRE, look!" She watched as Johnny looked down at himself before reacting the way she imagined, panicking and patting his body, trying to get rid of the many flames that continued to cover his body. "Johnny!" She screamed when he flew off the hill, or, more like a cliff. She wasn't quick enough to stop herself but instead, hit a rock when she wasn't looking and her body began tumbling down the hill until she crashed to a stop.

June groaned, feeling a dull pain run through her veins. Now, _that _hurt. As she slowly got herself up, her mind rushed back to Johnny flying off the cliff. She ignored her pains and grabbed her ski's, sprinting towards the place she reckoned Johnny would have landed – praying that he wasn't badly injured.

She found him in less than a few minutes … in a hole underground … everything around him had melted, now he standing in a small pool of warm water … naked. She pulled off her googles, blinking a few times to realize that he was indeed cloth-less. Well, the bottom part of his body was covered by the water which was lucky for her blushing tenancy's around him. Other than that, all the fire that had originally consumed his body had destroyed all his clothing, explaining the nakedness but not what actually happened.

Johnny looked up to her with a mix between a grin and a smirk, "Care to join me?" He gave June one of his adorable looks.

June glared at him, not liking the suggestion, "No," She told him sharply, ignoring her desire to actually follow him in there. She started to take off her purple jacket before throwing it to him – he caught it, "We need to tell Reed about this, your whole body turned into Fire, Johnny!" Putting the seriousness into her voice. "That isn't natural, and who knows what else that cloud did to you."

Johnny sighed, reluctantly getting out of the small pool before wrapping the coat around his waist, feeling a little disappointed. "Fine - just when it was getting good." He mumbled the last part.

They called for the chopper to come and get them.

June turned to him, "Um, this was actually pretty fun," She slightly smiled at him, "Best fun I've had since-" A rumble from the cliff cut her off, making them look up with a startled expression.

"Crap," Johnny breathed, seeing a small version of an avalanche about to fall on them and on instinct and reflex, he grabbed June and covered her with his own body as a way to protect her from the snow. June fell down with him but didn't notice her hand shoot upwards, holding out a flat palm towards the falling snow.

Thirty seconds went by when June gradually lifted her head to Johnny, whose lips were inches away from hers, _"Shouldn't we be crushed by now?"_ She whispered, like they were waiting for impending doom.

Johnny nodded slowly before looking up – but then, his eyes blinked several times – like he was trying to figure out something completely bizarre. "Uh, June … look up." He instructed, not moving his sight from above but kept his arms around her.

June followed his vision, which caused her to have the same reaction. The snow had frozen in midair, like all the water inside the snow had frozen to the side of the cliff. June glanced at the hand lifted in the air, "Oh, my god." She breathed, realizing her flat palm was looking straight towards the direction of the incident.

Johnny grinned like a kid on Christmas Day, "We have super powers!" He exclaimed, excited about the notion, "I'm like the human torch and you're a water bender."

June put her hand down with a hesitant shake – silently hoping the now frozen snow wouldn't fall on their heads, "We _really _need to see Reed now!" She declared, "If this has happened to us – they'll most likely be in a similar situation."

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	6. Powers?

**If anyone has watched 'H20 Just Add Water' then you'll figure out that June's power are a mix of all four girls.**

**Fantastic 5 | The Storm is Rising | Powers?**

As soon as they returned to the Medical Centre, Johnny and June headed straight to the dining room. It was the most likely place for everyone to be – no one really liked staying in one room for hours on end. Johnny was still wearing June's coat around his waist, but other than that – still pretty bare.

On the way back from the 'Powers' incident and on the helicopter – somehow, when June got frustrated with Johnny (which wasn't a total surprise) she was able to explode the water bottle the Pilot had beside him … then it steamed up, leaving no water behind. She evaporated every water particle in the plastic bottle.

June had to admit it - the powers were pretty cool. But, it felt uncontrolled and scary - she was able to bend and manipulate water to whatever she liked and it was … strange and unknown. It wasn't natural for the human species to have this kind of power – ever!

They were able to find Reed and Sue in the dining room; they were sitting opposite each other on a three-person table. And, just by looking at their faces, they knew the pair had just figured out the same thing as they did.

"Reed!" June called out the moment she saw her brother, quickly making her way over to him with the half-naked guy right next to her. She had to keep stopping herself from looking below Johnny's waistline, she really didn't want to flush an embarrassed shade right now.

"Hey, you guys!" Johnny yelled out at the same time, his hand still harbouring the side of June's coat, preventing the material from falling to the floor. He _really _didn't want it to fall off in front of his sister, but in front of June however … he was okay with it. "You are NEVER going to believe what just happened to us." Gesturing his hand between him and June – most likely giving the siblings the wrong thoughts.

Reed and Sue looked at him with a frown, subtly glancing down Johnny's body to see him only wearing June's coat around his waist. They looked to June with a raised eyebrow, wanting an explanation to why Johnny was standing there - practically naked. Both silently wondering if _something_ happened between them. The two knew a past was present between June and Johnny.

June sighed, not thinking that the older siblings looks could be insinuating something, "That's part of the non-believing part," Gesturing to Johnny's lack of clothing, "His incident left him naked in the middle of a water hole – his clothes had been burnt off. And, uh, I'm a different story." She paused, turning to her brother with a serious spark in her eyes, "Reed, something's happened to us … and I think the cloud has something to do with it."

…

Reed, Sure, June and Johnny quickly walked through the facility and towards Ben's room, "I think June's right, Reed." Sue spoke, trying to get past Reed's stubborn thinking for once, "It HAS to be the cloud. It's fundamentally altered our DNA." It was the only reason to explain the fact that her own body disappeared, and Reed with his stretchy limbs.

Reed looked hesitant to believe that notion, because it was and is an impossible conclusion … even if it did come from Sue … and his brilliant sister, "Let's not jump to conclusions. We need a massive amount of evidence before making_ that_ leap." He still didn't believe that his arm really had stretched that far - he was leaning towards the conclusion that it could have been an hallucination.

However, that explanation couldn't work because the same thing happened to Sue … at the exact same time. Similar events had happened to June and Johnny as well – they couldn't have all been having hallucinations at the same time.

June took a look over to Johnny but when she did, her eyes widened when he lit a flame with just the click of his fingers. A small match-like flame hovered over Johnny's thumb. "Reed!" She called towards her brother, wanting him to take a look at this. "Look!" Gesturing to Johnny's flamed thumb with a look.

Sue and Reed turned around in confusion, but then they also caught sight of the flame. Each of them stopped in the hallway, looking dumbstruck. Their eyes stayed there, watching as the flame flickered with heat pouring off – it was indeed real and _no_ trick.

Johnny grinned, clicking his fingers so the flame disappeared – like he had never been brought it to life. "Now picture that … but everywhere." He waved his hands around his body. He turned to look at June, giving her an encouraging look, "Show them." Referring to the water manipulation she was able to do.

Sue and Reed turned their shocked gaze to June, their minds still reeling around what Johnny had just done. June narrowed her eyes over to Johnny but then sighed, feeling a little hesitant. After a moment her eyes found a vase full of water on a hallway table, over to the side.

The older siblings watched as June held out her hand towards the vase before slowly twisting her hand. Their jaws dropped simultaneously when a small stream of water rose up and formed a small bubble. June made the water ball slowly fly over to her brother, making it hover just above his hand. He looked like he wanted to touch it, to make sure it was real, but it froze solid when she flattened her palm, dropping the manipulation of her power before letting it fall into his hand this time.

_"My god…"_ Reed breathed to himself a few seconds after the frozen ball fell into his palm. He held the newly formed object up to his face, ignoring how cold it was to his skin, "It's _frozen_." His eyes flashed with amazement but there was a pinch of worry in them. All of them seemed to have gained _very_ unnatural powers from the storm cloud, he really didn't know what to make of this situation anymore. He shook his head, finally giving into Sue's previous conclusion, "The cloud has fundamentally altered out DNA." He muttered, not needing anymore evidence.

Johnny laughed in delight when he announced it - he already loved his powers but he could see that June was still a little hesitant about the whole idea, "Cool!" He exclaimed happily, "You know what? I think I was flying." He made a mental note in his head to practice the notion once they were out of this place.

The four of them continued heading down the hallway again, needing to find Ben as soon as possible. If they had been hit with the cloud and gained unnatural powers – then Ben had to of been effected too. "We need to find Ben." Reed stated, his voice laced with concern for his best friend. Everyone knew that Ben had gotten the brunt of the hit, they just hoped nothing serious was going to happen.

…

"I said _cut it out_, Johnny." June gritted her teeth, keeping up with Sue and Reed – Johnny close beside her – extremely annoying her by continuously clicking his fingers. Making the flame come back and go again, and again, and again. She was_ literally _at her wits end by this point!

Johnny just grinned, liking her pent-up annoyance, "I'm getting the hang of it." The four of them finally arrived just outside Ben's room, the door locked.

"Johnny," She was about to hit him, wanting him to stop before she got a banging headache, "Stop." She told him with a hard tone when she twisted around, looking him in the eyes - basically ordering him to do just that at this point. Reed and Sue started banging on Ben's door, yelling at him to open it up – the door wouldn't open from the outside.

Johnny sighed, reluctant, "All right." He finally gave in, but still liked the annoyed face June wore, the one he missed so much.

June raised an eyebrow, she expected his to continue, "All right?" That was too easy.

He nodded, "Yes."

"God," She muttered, "I forgot how irritating you were." Shaking her head, she turned from him to her brother and best friend. Everyone stopped when each of them heard a heavy thud fall to the ground … from inside the room.

"Ben!" Everyone shouted through the door, banging on it while Sue tried to open it up by the panel. "Open up!" Every code she put in, didn't work. The damn thing wouldn't let them in.

Johnny turned around, trying to find someone, even though no one was currently in the hallways, "Does somebody have the keys to this door?!" He called out, hoping someone further away would hear him. "Anyone?"

June took a look at the panel, her mind thinking through an idea that just popped into her head – but, she had no idea if it would work though, "Wait!" She made everyone pause, getting everyone's attention. She turned to Sue, "Sue, move back." The blonde noticed June staring at the control system, and after a moment, she stepped back hastily.

June thrust out her hand, flattening her palm again.

Reed, Sue and Johnny watched in astonishment when the control panel in front of them … started freezing. Ice rapidly formed around it and in not time, sparks flew out of the console. A single click sounded from the door, it was now unlocked.

June brought down her hand with a proud grin towards herself – ecstatic that her plan had worked like she thought it would. She began to explain, "I froze it, making the wires fry so they can't work properly." She shrugged, still happy of her achievement. "Meaning everything will automatically unlock and break down."

Reed chuckled for a moment, "Brilliant." He praised, but then the previous reason as to why they were breaking in came back to his mind. Without a second thought, he burst through the now-open door as a crash sounded from within the room. With the other three behind him, they rushed inside.

As soon as they went in, the alarms from the monitors were beeping loudly. The four immediately caught sight of the very large, ripped out hole in the wall that led outside. "Ben?" Reed called out, seeing no one in the room but yelled outside instead, hoping Ben would hear him.

Johnny's eyes suddenly caught something moving very fast through the forest connected to the side of the building. The Medical Centre was actually in the middle of nowhere, "Look!" He pointed to the movement in the trees. "What is that thing?" They were so busy wondering what could be moving the trees so hard like that - they didn't even realise that Victor had come into the room from behind them. "What happened in here?"

Victor looked around with a quirk to his eyebrow, not understanding, but also mildly annoyed at the same time.

"Victor," Sue suddenly remembered something, she was supposed to have met him for dinner. She had completely forgot, having been with Reed the entire time … and then _this _came up. It's rare that she forgot things like that. "Are you feeling all right?" She immediately asked, forgetting about missing their dinner together but instead wondered if he had gotten the 'symptoms' too.

"I'm fine," He waved her concerns off, "Just a few scrapes, that's all." Not very happy to find her near Reed … again.

"Ben did this," Reed spoke up before turning to Victor, "He's had some kind of reaction to exposure from the cloud." Assuming that Victor was alright since the guy had been inside the shield the entire time, especially when the cloud hit the Station.

Sue nodded with him, "We all have different, er, symptoms." Using the best way to explain their conditions but really, there wasn't even a word for it.

Victor frowned, not looking pleased. "Symptoms?" Especially when Sue had blown his off really to be with _Reed_ of all people.

"Victor," Sue started, wanting to apologize for the fact that she had forgotten about their dinner together. "I should have-"

He just cut her off, "Just find him." He demanded, referring to Ben - he turned away before walking out of the room, not giving anyone a glance.

There was a moment of silence … until Johnny broke it, "Anybody got any ideas on where the big guy's going?" He didn't really know Ben at all – he just liked to make fun of the guy. It's an amusing hobby.

June noticed something on the ground, seeing the familiar picture that was always stashed in Ben's journal. She bent down to pick it up, "He's going home." She revealed, her eyes still looking upon the image of Ben and Debbie, their arms around each other. The two looked very much in love within this photograph.

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	7. The Bridge

**Fantastic 5 | The Storm is Rising | The Bridge**

Reed, June, Sue and Johnny were in a taxi cab, on their way to Ben and Debbie's apartment. That was until all the cars started to stop, pilling up into lines when they reached the bridge. When they stopped, each of them had a pretty strong feeling that Ben was in the middle of all this.

Within seconds, each of them got out of the taxi cab before rushing to the centre of the chaos, budging their way through to the front of the crowd. The needed to see what was happening because police were _everywhere_. June had changed into a pair of black jeans, a grey tank top and a cream jacket with a pair of black and white sneakers just as they left the Medical Centre.

Johnny had finally put on some clothing that didn't consist of June's jacket around his waist - he was now all covered from head to toe.

"What do we do now?" Sue questioned, concerned about how they were going to get past everyone in order to get to Ben.

Reed turned around to them with a shake to his head, "We're not going to get past these guys." He didn't have a plan. But then, something popped into his head as he turned around to Sue, "But _you_ could." Her power was invisibility – Sue was sure enough to get past the group of police.

Sue glanced over to June, obviously not sure if she could actually accomplish the task. June, however, gave her a nod of confidence, "You can do it."

Sue sighed before closing her eyes - willing herself to concentrate on becoming invisible. And within seconds, her body started to disappear in front of everyone eyes, but unfortunately, her clothes didn't follow. "_Sue, your clothes_." Reed hissed, his eyes roaming around to see everyone staring at them with either disbelief or just … strangely. _"Lose them."_

Sue looked down at herself, realizing that her clothes were indeed visible, "Right." Quickly beginning to take off her clothing … piece by piece.

Johnny shook his head, not able to believe that his older sister was basically stripping in front of him and everyone within the vicinity, "This is _so_ wrong."

Sue was about to take of her bra when she realised that everyone began staring at her like she was there … visible. June's mouth dropped and her eyes widened when she watched as Sue started reappearing, standing there in her bra and panties and with no other clothes on. Johnny groaned from besides June, looking away but felt June slapping his arm, sending him a 'behave' look.

"Sue, you're visible." June hastily told the blonde before the woman went too far.

Sue looked down before a gasp left her lips, instantly throwing her arms over her body in an attempt to keep her body hidden from prying eyes. Reed tilted his head towards her, though, with curious yet lustful eyes, "Wow," He drawled in fascination, not able to take his eyes off her beautifully figured body," You've been working out."

Sue's widened eyes snapped up to him to with a steely glare, "Shut up!" She demanded as June smacked her brother round the head. Johnny turned around even further, not wanting to his own sister with practically_ nothing_ on. "Anymore bright ideas?" Sue shouted at Reed with a sarcastic measure, trying to wrap her jacket around her body, wanting to cover up her naked skin, "Why don't YOU strip down and have a 100 people stare at you?!" By this time, everyone watched as she had slowly returned invisible again – she didn't even notice this happening herself.

"Sue-" Reed stopped her in the middle of her continuous rant.

"What?!" She snapped, incredibly annoyed that he stopped her, but then noticed he was looking away from where she actually stood – like he was trying to find her. After looking down at her body again, she saw herself become invisible again, "Oh!" She exclaimed, getting it. She dropped the jacket from her body before promptly removing her bra and panties – _praying to god_ that she would stay invisible this time, and not turn back visible when she was stark naked!

Johnny turned to June, "I'm gonna need therapy." Speaking seriously.

June patted his shoulder without looking at him, "You needed it a long time before this, honey." She rolled her eyes. "Besides … it's not like you haven't seen what women look like in their undergarments a hundred times before." Her voice came out a little harsh at that, he even flinched at the tone.

Reed ignored their conversation, patting them on the shoulder to get their attention, "Come on, let's get out of here." June stepped forwards before scooping up all of Sue's clothing. Making sure the blonde actually had clothes to put back on when she became visible again. She, Reed and Johnny followed the invisible being who pushed through the crowd. It was like a ghost was going through the crowd, just a more corporeal one that can touch things.

…

Sue threw her clothes back on with a huff, "I still can't _believe_ you made me do that!" Although, inside, she was happy that Reed had liked her new worked-out body back when she was only in her bra and panties. It's not that she didn't like Victor, it's just that she liked Reed more. Basically, she was just waiting for the Richards idiot to make his move and admit his faults so they could be together.

Sue was also hoping that her brother would put his more adult mind into gear and give back into his feelings for June, ones that she knew he's had for a _very _long time. The two looked so perfect together and there was definitely a strong connection brewing between the two of them.

"We got through it though, didn't we?" Reed retorted, returning to the three once he checked to make sure no one was looking over to them. While Sue was getting changed; Reed, Johnny and June made some kind of barrier to stop peepers from looking in on her. "Just find Ben." With that, Reed ran off the moment Sue was fully-clothed - leaving June, Johnny and Sue standing there.

Sue climbed on the top of an empty taxi cab in order to get a better look of the area, trying her hardest to try and find Ben. "Ben!" She shouted as Johnny and June started to walk down the bridge, trying to find Ben on foot. But they're movements halted instantly when they noticed a large, bright and orange figure that was about twice the size of Johnny further on down the bridge. June realized that she, along with everyone else, began staring at him – it was their Ben Grimm.

"Mum?!" A little girl with ponytails shouted from behind one of the cars while Johnny and June's vision snapped towards the small voices, "Daddy?" A little boy called this time – he looked much younger than the girl. The two of them looked lost, but identical, meaning that they were most likely siblings looking for their parents.

Out of instinct; Johnny and June ran over to them the moment they saw the cars were about to blow at any second. June grabbed the little boy, hugging him to her body while Johnny grabbed the girl and blocked himself between her and the incoming flames. The explosion combusted, igniting harshly as the two children were covered by the elder's bodies.

It took June a moment to realise that nothing seemed to be burning against her skin – not even any from scaling heat from the magnitude of the flames. She looked up – immediately taking notice of a thick barrier of water protecting her and the little boy – the fire tried to get in but it was disappearing around the water – she couldn't help but feel her energy slip slightly as each second went by.

The last of the fire disappeared when June used her powers to throw the water outwards – the cool liquid splashing over every surface, making the fire become nothing but smoke. Her eyes gazed upwards with a tired breath to see Johnny looking at her concerned – he had been protected by the water barrier too, along with the little girl still curled in his arms, "June," He said softly as he started to unravel his arms from the little girl, the fire completely vanishing, "You're bleeding."

June's face scrunched in confusion until her hand felt under her nose, there were small droplets of blood seeming to have run down her nose. She stared at her hand that held the droplets but then hurriedly wiping the crimson liquid away from under her nose, sniffing. She slowly let go of the boy just as Johnny did, the child stared at her with awe, obviously having seen the water barrier that protected them.

June placed him next to the girl after making sure the blood evidence was gone, "Both of you, stay here." She told the two children sternly before grabbing Johnny's hand, "We need to find the others." With that they left the two kids, but not without telling a police officer standing a few meters away – having seen what happened.

The police officer got right onto the mission of finding the children's parents.

…

June and Johnny quickly found Reed and Sue not too far away and the four of them ran towards Ben together – a man who had become surrounded by police. Even the fireman he had just saved; he had pulled the fire truck back onto the bridge before it fell off completely.

"Ben!" They all shouted in union, able to get Ben turning towards them but much to his surprise, the many people around him began clapping and whooping – congratulating the large rocky man on a job well done.

June saw Ben look towards a short blonde woman, one who had pushed her way through the crowd in order to get to the front. _'That must be Debbie'_ She thought, recognizing the woman from the picture. She watched as Debbie took off the engagement ring she had on her marriage finger before placing it on the ground, walking away without a second glance behind her. June felt an unbelievable amount of hatred growing towards the woman – Debbie clearly didn't deserve someone as kind and caring as Ben by the looks of it.

Ben tried picking the ring from the ground, but it became frustrating when his large fingers weren't able to pick up the piece of jewelry he had given to the woman he loved. He suddenly felt someone kneel beside him, picking the small ring up carefully. He looked up and saw June holding the ring, wearing a sympathetic look in her features. She placed the object into his open rocky palm before pulling back, "I swear to you Ben," She started, getting up from her crouch with him, "Reed and I will do EVERYTHING in our power … until there isn't a breath left in us, _we'll fix this_. You're going to be regular Ben again." She promised, giving him a small smile as her hand stayed on his shoulder comfortingly.

With a watery smile, he gave her a thankful look, knowing that her words always come true in the end.

…

Ben, Reed, June, Sue and Johnny were all taken to the Medical Tent the paramedics had set up for anyone with minor injuries during the bridge collision. The five of them were separated from everyone else, especially since there were a lot of people asking about them and how they did all those things to save the people during the collision.

"I told you I feel _fine_." Sue gave the paramedic a dumb, yet annoyed look as he took of the pressure pad – an instrument that would evaluate her heartbeat. The paramedics had already checked out everyone else, including June and her previously bleeding nose. June rolled her eyes in annoyance when she noticed that Johnny kept glancing at her, like he was waiting for her to pass out.

Johnny turned to Ben, sitting himself next to June, "Where are your ears." He wondered curiously, how did the big guy even hear everyone?

Ben looked up and glared at Johnny the best that he could. June punched Johnny in the shoulder, emitting a cry of pain from his mouth. Johnny looked at June, hurt, "What was that for?" He whined, rubbing his now throbbing shoulder.

"For being a dick." She replied bluntly, not even looking at him but she heard Ben let out an amused chuckle, shaking his head.

One of the Fire Station Chief's made his way into the tent, looking between the five, "There are some folks outside that want to talk to you." He told them, wondering silently who the leader was.

Reed looked at him, his face full of conviction, "We're not going public with this." He glanced over to his little sister when she stood up with him, "We're scientists, NOT celebrities."

The chief let out a small chuckle, feeling sorry for them, "It's too late for that, son." His voice was almost in a regrettable tone, he knew no one would want this type of publicity – he was sure that they wouldn't like it either, "Look." He gestured over to the small television that sat inside the tent. Everyone turned to the small screen as a reel of videos pop up.

June's eyes widen when she saw herself on the TV along with the others, the reporters were talking about how Reed was able to stretch himself – showing a video of him doing so to catch the fireman who had fallen of the bridge. They were calling the group, _'The Fantastic Five'_.

"That's what they're calling you," The Chief spoke up again, turning to them, "The Fantastic Five."

Johnny grinned, loving the publicity this would bring, "Cool." He turned around, about to greet the crowd but Sue stopped him, "Wait! Where are you going?" She demanded, already knowing the answer but decided to inquire anyway.

Johnny looked at her like it was the most obvious answer, "I'm gonna go talk to them." Stating the obvious.

"No," June spoke up this time, prying her eyes away from the television set to look at her ex-boyfriend, "We should think this through."

"That's great," He exclaimed but didn't agree as he pointed to her, "Brainstorm." And with that, he jogged away, readying himself to meet the fans.

June groaned in irritation as she, Reed and Sue ran after him, each of them thoroughly annoyed with Johnny. "Johnny!" Sue and June exclaimed together, trying to get Johnny to stop but he was already in front of the crowd – boasting himself off. The journalists and reports were going wild with their microphones and cameras.

Johnny smiled back at the three as they approached him from behind, "Can you believe this?" He was excited, this felt amazing but he loved the powers more right now. June scowled at the crowd, feeling uncomfortable with all the cameras pointing at them – looking as though they were a piece of meat.

The Chief headed over to them, "Which one of you is the leader?" He asked, looking between the four.

Johnny puffed out his chest, "That would be me." He told the man confidently.

The man scoffed, "No, seriously." June and Sue shared a look before pushing Reed forwards, knowing he would be the best one to lead them, out of all of them, anyway. There was no way they were going to nominate Johnny to be the leader; he was 99% hothead and 1% mature and logical.

Reed looked back at the two girls in a startled manner as he was pushed, but then quickly realized he had been picked to be the spokesperson for the group. The Chief nodded approvingly when he turned to look at Reed, "Okay, son. You're on." And with that, he moved out of the way of the reporters – letting the vultures ask away their questions.

"Uh," Reed started, smiling nervously as the reporters tried to move closer to him while shoving others in the crowd, knowing he was about to speak, "During our recent mission to the Von Doom Space Station - we were exposed to an unidentified radioactive energy."

People started to call out different questions to him, "What happened on the bridge?" – "Is it true you can stretch?" – The questions started getting thrown to Johnny and June as well, "Were you really on fire?" – "What can you do with water?" – "Is it true you can fly?"

June didn't reply to her questions, but Johnny did, especially on the question about him flying, "Yeah, I'm working on it. It's actually really difficult." He answered readily.

June placed her hand over his mouth to stop him from talking, stepping forwards herself, "We are NOT going to answer those types of questions as we have no idea of the full extent ourselves."

Sue nodded, "We don't know much of anything at this point - not much more than you do." June felt her hand being moved by Johnny, the guy gave her a slight glare of annoyance when she turned to him – his actions caused her to just simply roll her eyes. Although, she was glad that he decided to stay quiet. Sue continued, "We'll be going directly to our lab to diagnose our symptoms."

"Symptoms?" A lady called from the crowd, "Is this some kind of disease." Worry slipping into the vocal voice.

June's eyes widen slightly, "No," She quickly denied, "But this is something that has happened to our personal selves - there's no chance that these, um, symptoms of spreading to others."

Johnny stepped forwards again, moving in front of everyone, "No. It's not a disease like June said, but if having special powers is a disease, then yeah, we got it bad." He chuckled.

The four of them didn't notice Ben come up behind them, "Excuse me," The man who shouted out the first question, called out again, "But, that thing doesn't look so fantastic." He pointed at Ben clearly.

"Ben Grimm is a genuine American hero." Reed stated in Ben's defence, especially when the guy in question looked as though he wanted to beat the crap out of the reporter.

June narrowed her eyes at the man as well, "He saved A LOT of lives on that bridge, he has more guts than any of _you_ ever will." She didn't like people insulting her friends, she wouldn't take it.

Johnny, being the idiot that he is – wrapped his arm around Ben's shoulders with a smirk, "What they mean is, every team needs a mascot." Everyone in the crowd laughed, "A new day is dawning. The day of the Fantastic Five." He wrapped an arm around June's waist, but let go instantly when she stabbed him in the foot – making him wince with pain and wish he could hop up and down in agony … but, he stayed still as the cameras were still on them.

June stepped forwards, ignoring Johnny's pain – he deserved every bit of it, "Look," She called out, trying to get everyone's attention – she just wanted to get out of here and go back to the Baxter building. She had been staying there again for the past week - before they went out to into space. "The five of us went up into space to find a way to understand DNA, cure diseases and save lives. Well, now it's _our _DNA, _our_ disease, _our_ symptoms and it's _our lives_ on the line." She glanced at her brother, getting a nod of approval for her speech.

"Thank you. We're not answering anymore questions." The Chief came back, notifying them that a prepared transport was able to take them away now from the site, getting to where they wanted to go.

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	8. The Baxter Building

**Fantastic 5 | The Storm is Rising | The Baxter Building**

June stepped out of the police car with Johnny, Sue and Reed behind her. They came out one by one while Ben had to come out of a police van, one that usually carried criminals back and forth from prisons. Ben had put on his brown rain coat and grey hat again before they left the bridge site. All five of them would be staying in the Baxter building from now on, needing to stick together and wanting to fix this problem as quickly as possible. Reed and June had already been living together in the Baxter building about a week before the mission - June was pretty much in the same living arrangements as before she moved away.

All around them, people were cheering as the crowd got a visual of the 'Fantastic Five'. The five of them were the heroes who stopped the bridge disaster from getting out of hand and losing lives, they even had special powers to go with them!

June walked into the Baxter building, her brother and Sue following her – not even realising that Johnny and Ben were still outside with the crowd. An older man in a doorkeeper uniform walked up to them with a small yet inviting smile, "Is all that for you, Miss June, Dr. Richards?" Gesturing the roaring crowd outside the building.

June sighed looking back at the doors, "Unfortunately." She nodded, suddenly feeling tired after the events of the day. She hasn't even properly rested after her energy slip back on the bridge, but she ignored it – not wanting anyone to worry about her health. She was sure that the nose bleed had come from the strength of the water barrier she had instantly created, it was also the first time she had ever used it - so her theory was, that the more times she used it, the more she got used to it. And then, she wouldn't have to worry about the energy slip because she'll be stronger with her powers.

Reed looked back too, also feeling drained, "It's all to do with the bridge event." He gestured towards the elevator to June and Sue, "Let's get up there." The girls nodded before following him, watching as the older man left to continue with his duties.

They noticed Johnny and Ben come up behind them just as the mail man - Willie, caught up to the Richards siblings, "Welcome back to the Baxter, Dr. Richards, Miss June." He started to pull open his mail bag, "I've got the usual and it is so nice to see you back June. Your brother had missed you around here dearly."

June chuckled slightly, she had missed this man after being away so long, "Yeah, seems as though he can't live without me." She grabbed the letters for herself that the Willie passed to her. Reed took his own as well, but his was almost a metre pile in his hand. The nice old man nodded to them with a smile, "Good to have you both back, sir, ma'am."

"Thanks, Willie!" Both Richards siblings called out to him as he walked away, the man having to deliver a lot more letters before the end of the day.

June sighed and grabbed Reed's letters from him when he just skimmed through them, "Give them here." She saw Reed glance over to a concerned Sue, the woman having seen what the letters were about, "We've had a tough year." With that, they all walked into the elevator that opened up. June skimmed through the letters; they were pretty much all final notices and bills that needed to be paid. They _really_ needed to find a way to gain some money before they lose the Baxter building – they couldn't lose this place; it's been their home for years before their parents passed away.

Ben scoffed from behind, glancing over to Sue, "Yeah, like nine straight." The elevator creaked when everyone got on. June didn't notice this as she handed the letters back to Reed before leaning against the side of the lift's wall.

The doors closed, waiting to go up to their level but neither of them felt the lift move an inch. Johnny decided to be sarcastic, "Either we're moving really fast or not at all."

Suddenly, a buzzer sounded in the small square room – everyone looked up to the corner of the lift to see where the buzzer was coming from. On the level teller, a red notice popped up beside the level they were on 'G' meaning, 'Ground Floor'. The message was, _'Exceed Maximum Weight'_. There was too much weight in the lift, meaning it couldn't move without someone getting out.

The doors opened again and Ben realised that it was his fault that the weight of the lift had exceeded. "I'll take the stairs." He spoke after a moment with a sad note, not looking at anyone as he left the lift. June couldn't look at him; she didn't want to make him think that it was his weight that caused the lift to stay still. She looked up when he glanced at all of them, the lift slowly closed its doors, ready to take the occupants to the floor they wanted.

Johnny broke the silence after the lift started going up in movement, "How come Ben can't turn it on and off like we can?" Asking curiously.

Reed turned to him, "That's what we're here to find out."

June thought about it for a second, "It could be because he was the first one to be hit by the cloud? But then again, we all got hit by the cloud full on … maybe these 'powers' reflect on our beings, our personalities?" She shrugged, honestly not knowing what the answer was right now, "I don't know – we have to look into it further."

"If it happened to him-" Sue started, going back to Ben and his inability to change back into human form.

"What?" Johnny butted in, leaning against the handle of the lift's side wall, "You mean, like, we won't be able to turn it off, either?" Reed and June gave him a small shrug with a 'not-sure' expression. "That would save time." He chuckled, making it seem that it's the best idea in the world.

Sue looked at him disbelievingly, "You don't _really_ wanna walk around on fire for the rest of your life … do you?"

June scoffed looking down at her own letters before opening them, "He'll say yes to that – it'll show how immature he is." She muttered, not caring if it hurt Johnny's feelings or not. He seemed to be doing it a lot to other people lately, especially her - it felt like he was playing with her feelings and emotions every time he does something nice for her. Then … he goes and kisses some other girl. She wouldn't be surprised if in the next couple of days, he went off with another bimbo who had a great figure.

Johnny did look slightly hurt, but covered it up quickly, "Am I the _only_ guy who thinks this is cool?" He looked between the three lift occupants who were sharing the elevator with him, but none of them said anything to either agree or disagree.

The ding of the lift sounded, telling them that they had arrived on the floor they wanted. Each of them walked out as Reed threw all the letters he had onto the table beside him, reminding himself to look through them when they finally had some money coming in.

"We should stay here until we can define the extent of our changes-" Reed told everyone, except from June because she was already living in the Baxter with him, "-and figure out how to reverse them." June stuffed her letters into the inside of her jacket, needing to put them in her bedroom later. It was a letter from a friend back at college telling her about everything that had gone on without her - there was also a bank statement too but she didn't need to read it just yet.

Johnny's eyes widened when he saw the place that Reed and June basically owned, "Woah!" He exclaimed, loving the room already but it was very sciency.

Sue looked back at her brother, amused, "Believe it or not … they actually live here."

Reed and June split up to flick all the lights on, "But I have to warn you, it's gonna be a little crowded in some areas!" Reed called to them before his set of lights went on, June's following closely behind.

June grinned, coming back as Johnny and Sue walked towards the middle of the room, "So, what do you think?" She had always loved this place; it was where the science nerd in her came out to play. Reed came in from the other side, also wanting to know their opinions.

"I don't know," Johnny's head was still spinning around to look at everything. "I think you and Reed have been bringing your work home with you." He always knew that June had a science nerd built into her system, like Reed – but he never would have believed this until he saw it.

Reed chuckled, "Come on," He rolled up his sleeves. He turned to June, "I'll show Sue where she'll be staying – you'll have to show Johnny where he'll be going."

June sighed with silent annoyance, obviously not happy with the arrangement, "Come on, Storm." She didn't look at him, "Follow me." She walked towards a direction, not even looking back to see if he was actually following her. They turned a corner until she stopped by a door, she turned to him and nodded to the door of the guest room, "You'll be staying here, my rooms just down the hall if you need anything."

June was about to walk away but Johnny's voice stopped her, "Why are you acting like this?" He wondered dumbly - he had seen June getting riled up quite a lot lately, which wasn't normal for her.

June turned to him with a raised eyebrow, "Like what?" Daring him to question her attitude like she knew he was about to.

Johnny waved his hands at her body, "Like this!" He exclaimed, "You seem to be acting different whenever you're around me … you get riled up quicker."

June scoffed, crossing her arms – trying to keep her anger in check at the simple fact he didn't seem to be getting, "You want me to just act like I was _before_ you broke up with me or even started dating me?" Johnny started listening promptly as she continued.

"To act like you _didn't _break my heart when you walked out that door? To act like I haven't seen _so many different women_ you're always flirting with or kissing them from the moment you walked out my door? And, now –" She narrowed her eyes at him, "-you expect me to just act NORMAL?"

"Since you found out I was going on that mission; you've pretended to be concerned for me. Well, Johnny-" Her teeth gritted together, showing her anger towards him now, "-right now, you're messing with my feelings! From the moment you walked out my door – I realised then that you didn't really love me, and all those girls just confirmed everything."

June could feel tears beginning to spread against her pupils as she shook her head, "I _won't _get hurt again … my heart just can't take it." Without even a second glance or even another work - she left Johnny standing by his door, gobsmacked and blinking rapidly, wondering if that really just happened.

…

June walked back into the main area of the loft – she had the strong feeling of wanting to cry her eyes out in the shower, letting the water drip down her face to remove the feelings she had of sadness but her eyes suddenly snapped up towards the lift entrance. She noticed her brother jog after Victor. _'When did Victor come in?_' She wondered absently in her head as she strolled over to the pair, knowing that this wasn't going to be a pleasant conversation between the two of them.

"Victor, wait!" Reed called as he jogged after the man. Victor stopped just as he reached the closed elevator doors, "I just wanted to say I'm sorry that the mission didn't go as planned."

The man turned to him, looking hateful just as June reached her brother's side, "_Didn't go as planned?"_ He repeated sarcastically, but not in a good way, he was beyond angry and vengeful, "It was a _catastrophe_. You ruined the lives of five people."

June cocked an eyebrow at him defiantly, crossing her arms over her chest again like she had done with Johnny, "Actually, according to my brother – he did tell you to abort, in which you said 'No' to and kept on going. Technically, it's all our fault, including mine in the mix."

"Abort?" Victor sneered, his anger reaching a high level as he slowly moved towards them, "I put my company, my name, billions of dollars on the line. I will not let either of you make me look like a fool." By this time, he was practically in front of the Richards siblings.

"Victor-" Reed began, wanting to calm the guy down, "If we can understand-" Victor interrupted him, his voice now yelling loudly.

"I don't wanna understand it!" June and Reed just stood there, now looking around the room when the lights started to flicker on and off as Victor yelled. Their brows furrowed when their heads tilted up, but then looked back at Victor as he continued, "This isn't one of your science projects! I just wanna fix this. Fast!"

Heavy footsteps sounded behind the Richards siblings, "Is there a problem here?" Ben questioned, coming to stand with June and Reed as back up if needed.

Victor huffed indignantly but then sighed tiredly, "No," He shook his head at the rocky Ben, "No problem, Ben." A ding went off behind him, letting him know that the lift had arrived to take him back down to the ground floor. Victor looked back at Reed and June one last time, "Just pay your damn electric bill and get to work on finding a cure," He turned his attention to June, "And maybe _you_ should stop making those promises, they don't seem to have as much luck as they did in the past … do they?" With that, he turned around and went into the lift – catching Reed's eye one last time before the lift door closed.

June let out a breath, feeling her eyes start to drop as the events of the day started to catch up with her. She turned to her brother and Ben, "We should get some sleep," She told the boys, "It's been a long day – we can start the tests tomorrow when we're fully awake and alert."

Reed nodded, also feeling the exhaustion catch up with him too, "Good idea, we'll see you in the morning Junie." June turned around after exchanging a 'Good Night' with Ben and her brother before heading towards her room.

June stripped off her daily clothes the moment she entered her room, pulling on some pyjamas before her body practically flopped onto the mattress. As soon as her head hit the pillow, she instantly slipped into unconsciousness and began dreaming away through the night.

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	9. Tests

**Fantastic 5 | The Storm is Rising | Tests**

June sat on a single chair in front of Reed and Sue - the experimentation equipment and clipboards all at the ready. It was her turn to first test out the new abilities, "Okay," Reed murmured, twisting around to her from his swivel chair, "Now, from what we know – your power is pretty much the manipulation of water?"

June nodded, pursing her lips, "Yeah, that's what it seems to be." She leaned back in her chair, getting comfortable. If felt strange being sat there like an experimentation tool – she silently sympathized with the rats' scientists would use for their projects.

Sue looked back to the computer, "Why don't we see the things you can do?" She suggested, glancing over to Reed for approval. "Maybe we can figure out if you have anymore?"

June shrugged, okay with the idea – she was intrigued as to whether she may have a few more powers that she hadn't yet explored. After a moments hesitation, she held out her hand towards the glass of water on the computer table – right next to Reed. And, slowly but surely, a small water worm grew from the glass – it seemed to gain more water as it rose, an interesting note to add to the clipboard.

Over the course of the hour she made the water steam, move to her will, freeze it and turn the substance to a jello-like substance. The last one had been a pleasant surprise; she loved jelly! Now she could make some whenever she wanted without having to leave it in the fridge overnight.

"And this water barrier that protected you and Johnny on the bridge," Reed began, looking very interested as to how his sister's power was able to extend. "Did it feel any different from the things you just did?"

June hummed, meaning '_Yes_', "My nose started to bleed and it felt like some of my energy was gone," She started to explain, they needed to know these things – she couldn't keep it to herself anymore, "Though, I'm thinking that the more I use it, the stronger I'll get. It was a pretty powerful barrier too..."

…

Johnny stepped into the heat chamber - this was the only place where Reed, June and Sue would be able to assess how hot Johnny can get when he turns himself into a fireball.

The three of them sat just outside the chamber, next to the computer that kept track of the heat and other signs that were needed for Johnny's tests, "Okay, Johnny. Go!" Sue spoke through the microphone as Reed and June began writing things down.

Johnny looked down at himself for a moment before initiating his power – quickly turning his entire body into fire – the clothes he had been wearing before completely melted off his body and turned into nothing but ash.

June glanced over to the monitor beside her; it measured the temperature of Johnny's body after he ignited himself, "He's heating up from his core." She blinked, wondering if what she was seeing was completely happening – but it was. This is impossible! With the temperatures Johnny was quickly rising to, any normal person would have been vanquished into ash by now – bones and all!

Sue confirmed that her brother was still completely fine, it's like he wasn't even on fire at all, "His vitals are _completely_ normal still."

It didn't take long for Johnny to do something completely stupid and that meant he went _way_ hotter than he was supposed to. When the idiot didn't seem to listen, June initiated the foaming extension to the chamber – completely filling it with a type of foam a fireman would use on the hottest and worst of fires.

If Johnny had kept going and risen his temperature past the boundaries - it would have resulted in lighting Earth's atmosphere up like a match!

…

Ben sat on a chair, much like June had done during her testing session – but this time, he had plugs attached to many parts of his body. This would enable the three nerds to assess what's going on … inside his body.

June, Reed and Sue prepared everything – basically setting up a physical to begin with. "If we're going to identify the source of the mutation," Reed started, going over his best friend's body schematic on the screen in front of him, "We need to isolate your recombinant DNA." He moved the x-ray machine over to Ben's heart. "So we can activate positional genomes."

Ben blinked, completely lost, "Huh?" He never could understand Reed's garble and he's been the guy's best friend _since High School_.

Sue looked up while June snickered silently towards her brother's lack of simple human communication, "We have to do a physical in order to see what got zapped." Sue explained as simple as possible – even a small child like Johnny would be able to understand that sentence.

"Oh!" His eyes widened in understanding, getting what they were going to do now, "Why didn't you just say so?" He turned to glare at Reed.

June rolled her eyes with a small smile, "Technically he did Ben, but in the only way Sue and I can understand. There's a mechanism in his head that likes to speak complicated rather than the way normal people talk." She typed something into the computer, getting it ready while ignoring the small playful glare her brother she could feel being sent behind her back.

June's eyebrows raised when she got a look at the x-ray results, "Uh, Reed, Sue." She muttered with importance, just loud enough for the two to hear. Reed and Sue came to her side quickly, wanting to see the results to the first set of tests. They gave her a questioning look but she just pointed to the screen, telling them exactly why she called them over.

The X-Ray of Ben's heart showed that it was completely made of rock, no human tissue or organs were left in the body. Unless you could identify which rocky object the organ belonged too within Ben's newly-formed figure.

"His internal organs are completely solid." Reed blinked with both worry and amazement. He looked to Ben at the same time as the girls did.

Ben saw their faces looking to him in union – _that can't be good. _"How bad is it?" He wondered, the notion of actually being concerned for his health lacing into his voice, "You know, I used to smoke." Hoping his diagnosis was too bad.

June shook her head at him sadly, looking back to the screen, not really know how to proceed right now. "Smoking has _nothing_ to do with it Ben," She assured him, but how can she really do that when every part of his body was completely solidified into rock? Its not really much of a step up from the normal health issues honestly.

All June knew right now was that she and Reed _really _needed to find a way to change Ben back – as for how that was going to happen?

She wasn't entirely sure of that yet.

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	10. The Plan

**Fantastic 5 | The Storm is Rising | The Plan**

June grabbed the original blue suit she had worn the same time as the cloud had hit the five of them. Last night, she had a theory about them – if they had gotten these powers when the cloud hit them – when they were wearing these suits too, it made sense that they would adapt to their powers as their bodies change.

June smiled when she looked through the microscope to see a close up of the suit. (the fibres of the material) They were changing like _they_ would – Sue's would turn invisible when she would – Johnny's would adapt to fire and her brother's would fit him even when he stretched out a limb. For Ben, the suit is stretchable so she could easily modify the garment to his size. For her, her body didn't change like everyone else's so it was really going to just be a protection for her, of sorts.

It would feel awkward if everyone else wore the suit and she didn't – no matter how much she felt uncomfortable in it, she'd have to get used to it.

…

"The uniforms we wore up at the Von Doom Space Station were exposed to the storm cloud, like us," June began to explain to everyone, she was already in her own suit again. Everyone else had changed into theirs as well, especially when June realized something Reed didn't even think about.

In Ben's case, though, he refused to put it on – mostly because of his size but really, he hated the things even before becoming an orange rock figure. "Meaning they'll be able to transform like us … well, you guys can. I don't have a physical difference, but you do." She was sitting next to her brother, Sue was holding Ben's suit, probably thinking the same as June when it came to fitting it to Ben's size.

Reed nodded, impressed … how come he never thought of that? "Becoming invisible in Sue's case, for me it would be changing size on demand and for Johnny it'll remain impervious to flames."

Ben snorted when he got a good look at the four in their costumes, "You guys look like an 80's rock band." He chuckled, finding the outfits even funnier back down on Earth.

Sue tilted her head at him, "You know Ben, this material stretches." She started, glancing at June who had nodded – indicating that she knew what the blonde was going to say, "I'm sure June and I can figure a way to make it fit."

Ben waved it off, he never liked the suits in the first place, "I wouldn't be caught dead wearing that." He stated, waving his metal jug of soda around – they wouldn't get him wearing that … _thing_.

Johnny ran his hands up and down his suit, "I LOVE these costumes," He grinned manically, excitement bubbling in his gut – wanting to show it off, but there was just something missing, "They're missing something, though, like … spice." He tried to think of the proper word for what he was trying to insinuate.

Reed sighed, Johnny was the one who seemed to like going against what people say – that alone made it frustrating for everyone. "They're NOT costumes."

Sue agreed, there was _no way_ they were going to become this 'Fantastic Five' group everyone in the public was now talking about, "You CAN'T use your powers in public, Johnny." She told her younger brother with a stern note to her voice.

Johnny did a couple of poses to, acting as though he were a model, "Ugh, you guys are worse than NASA." He grumbled, huffing to himself like a child.

June rolled her eyes at the whining, ignoring him as usual.

"Maybe it's missing a utility belt." Ben retorted after a second but didn't look up – he then chuckled to himself, finding his own comment terribly funny.

…

June sat beside her brother and between Sue and Ben at the dining room table; beginning to a pasta bolognaise the younger woman had made for everyone. Ben decided on having a bowl of mixed fruits and some freshly squeezed orange juice to go with his dinner. He made his own juice, squeezing the life out of a couple dozen oranges.

Johnny waltzed in, "All right," He started, walking past Ben and grabbing the bowl of orange juice – the orange juice that Ben had just prepared for himself, "I'm here, let's make this quick. I got _a lot_ of places to go today." He spoke with exaggeration leaking into his words even as he headed over to the counter, putting on a dramatic face of realization, "Oh, wait … I don't go anywhere." His tone now bitter – he felt like a caged rabbit!

"We need to stay inside," June told him, not looking up from her plate but was starting to get annoyed by his constant whining about not being able to leave the building. "We need to fix this problem before we leave - so that means staying INSIDE for the foreseeable future." Her finger pointed to the plate of bolognaise on the counter, all ready to be eaten - still not looking up. The meal itself had probably gone a bit cold by now, "There's pasta there if you want it, if not, throw it away." She placed a piece of pasta in her own mouth and chewed.

Ben tried to pick up his fork again, but with no such luck. He grunted with frustration as Johnny spoke up again, "Oh, your famous bolognaise pasta!" He exclaimed delightfully, moving over to the plate in an instant. Everyone in the room raised an eyebrow at him (even June) – wondering what had gotten into him.

Johnny turned before answering with a shrug, "It's good." He shoved some in his mouth before speaking with his mouth full, "Anyway, you lot said that last time, my brain just heard _'a week'_." He moaned silently in his head, practically shoving more of the delicious pasta dinner in his mouth.

Sue sighed, placing the newspaper she was holding back onto the table in front of her, "Johnny, it's too dangerous for you to be out in public."

He snorted at her, "You've been saying that for years." Which is true.

Reed spoke up this time, putting down his calculations and fork at the same time, "What worries me is that our powers are evolving." Glancing over to his sister; they've already seen hers becoming stronger as the days go by.

"I know!" Johnny exclaimed, excited about the idea. To the side Ben had finally been able to pick up the fork he needed to eat the chopped fruit in the bowl. "I am SO close to flying, guys. I can taste it." He threw a napkin onto the counter, not realising his powers lit the corners of the material on fire.

Sue shook her head, not really believing he could do such a thing. "You can't fly." She stated with a small chuckle, but when she glanced at June – the youngest Richards sibling just shrugged like she didn't know whether he could or not.

"Yet." He pointed out, emphasizing on the 'T'.

Sue glanced over to the counter, now seeing the napkin slowly burning to nothing in a pretty quick manner, "Johnny, can you put that napkin out." Gesturing the rag behind him calmly – already knowing it'll be out before the building goes down in flames.

June looked over to the counter when she heard Johnny flapping about a bit – he was trying to tap it out, but all he was doing was making the flames grow. She groaned, shaking her head in exasperation, "Johnny, move." She demanded. She twisted her body around as he moved away, bringing her hand up before maneuvering water from the filled basin – sprinkling the liquid over the open flame. The miniature fire was out in seconds as soon as the cool water hit. Finally, she slowly clenched her hand, everyone watching as the water began steaming – evaporating it into the air.

And then, everyone acted like nothing ever happened.

"So, what's going on Reed? June?" Ben asked, seeing the youngest Richards turn back to her food – now done with cleaning up Johnny's mess, "How're you going to cure us?" He hoped for a quick answer – it's been a week already and he still hasn't heard much about the cure, other than what his test results showed.

Reed looked to June, who nodded, telling him that it was still a good plan … hopefully. Well, it was the only plan they had honestly, "We're going to build a machine to recreate the storm." Reed told his best friend, grabbing the diagram board from beside him. Johnny was now holding the plate of food, continuing to eat from it again as he listened to the plan, "The cosmic rays will travel from this generator and to this chamber." Using his hand to point to each part he was describing on the board.

Johnny raised an eyebrow from where he's leaning on the counter, "What, no pop-ups?" He questioned sarcastically.

June ignored him and continued for her brother, putting her fork down, "If we can reverse the wave signal-"

Ben's eyes light up, "It'll return us back to normal." The female brunette nodded to him with a small smile. Ben put the fruit he was able to pick up with the fork in his mouth, but when he pulled the utensil away, his teeth crunched through something as he chewed – it was the end of the metal fork.

Sue took the diagram and notes from Reed, scanning them herself, "Right, but, what are the risks?" There were always risks, especially with something as big as this. Also, just by looking carefully between the brilliant siblings – there were concerns towards his project, even they knew that.

June cringed, remembering those that were talked about during the planning stage, "Even a _small_ miscalculation could make these _'powers_' we have sky rocket and become worse … or it could just kill us."

"Now, dying." Johnny said straight after, putting on a fake thoughtful façade, "That's bad, right?" Everyone simply gave him a dumb look but it didn't stop the guy from putting in his own opinion. "I say we just let the sleeping dogs lie, guys." He pulled out the seat next to June before sitting down, drinking the orange juice and eating his pasta.

Ben turned his attention back to the Richards siblings, "So how long until this contraption is up and running?" Praying it wasn't too long. He couldn't stay like this forever! He looked like damn monster! It's why he's basically been hibernating in this place, ever since they arrived back from the bridge.

Reed shook his head, they haven't had the chance to do anything past the planning stage as of yet. There were so many variables and concerns to work through, making sure this project went completely right without fail. They couldn't mess this up, not something as big as this, "We don't know, it's pretty hard to say-"

"How long?" Ben interrupted him, his voice turning into a demand of desperation.

June sighed, "We're not sure Ben." Her best estimate without rush would have been a month, and that's just to make completely sure that the machine wouldn't kill any one of them.

"You don't know?!" He yelled, on the verge of anger, it's already been too long for him to look like this in the first place. He looked between June and Reed; almost demanding a proper answer from them other than '_We don't know'_ … that answers nothing!

Ben rose from his chair.

Reed stood up at the same time, wanting his best friend to calm down – he couldn't know what the guy was having to truly go through right now, but he wanted to know that he'd be alive at the end of the month. "You don't want this to get worse." He calmly spoke, almost like he was trying to draw the tension out of the room.

Johnny snorted with a laugh, "Worse than that?" Gesturing to Ben, amused. How worse can you get from … _that_?

June smacked him upside the head … hard, "Shut it, Storm." She ordered, before turning to Ben - Johnny held his head with a pained wince on his face, "Look, Ben. _We'll get it done_," She promised, "But, we NEED to make sure we have everything right before we even attempt it. This could be a catastrophic failure if everything goes wrong before it's even complete." She tried to reason with him, hoping he'd see it from the more logical side like she and her brother were, at least.

Sue nodded, agreeing with her, "We're going to be stuck here for a while so let's just all try and get along." That alone was very unlikely when the feud between Ben and Johnny was still a significant crisis. Ben turned to Johnny with a glare, remembering the previous comment about how worse could he get from … _this_.

Everyone knew that this stay was going to be a lot and the results were going to be tougher to reach.

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	11. Johnny being an idiot, again

**Fantastic 5 | The Storm is Rising | Johnny being an idiot, again**

June and Reed were in the Baxter Building lab; getting to work on the machine that coincided with the design they created – the device that would turn them back to normal. They knew it would take a while, but just like June promised, they were going to make sure Ben returned to his normal human-like body as soon as possible.

The construction itself was actually coming along nicely – moving at a good pace, time-wise anyway. Every time they started a new section to the project; both Richards siblings took detailed notes, making sure they didn't miss anything. Any minor detail that's missed and not re-checked … could quite possibly end in disaster.

As soon as the machine's built, they'd be able to get to the hardest part of the project – the trial and error simulation faze.

…

Over an hour into the process; Ben padded in with his rocky feet slamming against the ground towards the siblings and Sue, an angry expression plastered on his face, "You need to see this." He told them, leading them quickly towards the living room area. The TV was still on and the show that was playing seemed to be a motorbike show.

The guest star … Johnny '_the idiot'_ Storm.

Sue placed her hands on her hips, standing next to June as they stared at the screen. They stopped behind the couch, Reed next to them while Ben paced angrily. "He didn't." Sue sighed, shaking her head in disappointment.

How did she happen to get a brother so immature and reckless as him?!

Sue _really_ wished she was dreaming right now – Johnny was flaunting about with the crowd. The crowd roared with cheers as a response for him. She was _so_ going to kill him later!

June nodded but it was obvious that she wasn't at all surprised by the turn of events – she knew something like this would have happened sooner or later. It just goes to show how much she really knew about the bastard. "Of course he is." She scoffed, narrowing her eyes towards the screen at how predictable he seemed to be.

Ben clenched his fists, feeling an unbelievable urge to strangle the kid until he choked, "Flame boy NEVER listens!"

Sue's eyes quickly caught something on her brother's uniform through the camera staring at him, there was some kind of logo plastered on his chest. "What did he do with his uniform?" She questioned, squinting her eyes. There was a large '5' symbol on his chest, it was clear as to what it actually meant.

_The Fantastic Five._

Reed silently looked down to his own uniform, seeing the '5' on his too – he had been the one to do it to the uniforms but it was a secret. No one else in the room had their uniform on so it was easy to hide it – of course, until Johnny took his out of the cupboard and wore it.

The woman interviewing Johnny spoke up, holding the microphone over to him, "_Johnny, I've gotta ask you about this outfit._" Gesturing towards the Fantastic Five uniform with an interested look on her face – she was desperate for information about this new superhero team in town.

Johnny sent his signature smile towards the camera – June would never admit it out loud, but that smile always gave her the butterflies. She suddenly shook her head, disapproving of her own bad thoughts – NO! She couldn't go through something like that again, the first time almost broke her heart completely in two. "_Yeah, it's sort of Armani meets astronaut_." Johnny commented, flashing another smile.

"_So … what are your superhero names?"_

Johnny grinned, practically brimming with excitement – he's been waiting for that question all week, "They call me '_The Human Torch'_ … but June calls me '_Torch_'." June narrowed her eyes even further – actually, the only things she's been calling him lately is '_Storm_', and not in a nice sense.

June raised an eyebrow when everyone turned to stare at her – obviously wondering if that statement was actually true. "I do not." She stated in a hard tone, a shake to her head to accompany her words. Her head turned back towards the screen, just as the reporter began to open her mouth again.

"_Ah, yes … June Richards_." A picture of June popping up on the screen – it was a snapshot of her from when they were on the bridge, "_What's her superhero name?"_

Johnny thought for a moment, trying to find the perfect name for her. "_Aqua."_ He nodded to himself just as the name was expelled from his lips, liking the name he picked out.

June shrugged lightly with a little reluctance, it wasn't _that_ bad. Though, it still didn't help his case by going out in public when he was strictly forbidden to.

"_What about the rest of the team?_" A picture of Sue came up towards the side when June's had been.

Johnny pointed to his sister's picture, "_That's the Invisible Girl." The look on his face clearly knew he'd get it later by using the word 'girl'._

Sue huffed, annoyed but boarding along the lines of hurt. "Girl?" She questioned with gritted teeth, wanting to hit her brother round the head, just like June had been doing a lot lately. Right now, he deserved a few dozen of them until his head became numb.

"_What about your leader, Reed Richards_?" The Reporter began, Reed's picture replacing Sue's, "_I hear you call him Mr. Fantastic."_

Ben turned to Reed, shrugging with acceptance. Both Reed and June's names seemed to be good … so far. Sue's, however - there's going to be a nasty talk later in their midst, "Could've been worse." He commented.

Reed nodded, agreeing, "I guess." He didn't mind that name at all. Mr. Fantastic. Yeah, he liked that.

"Hold on, guys," June sighed with a murmur, already guessing what was about to come, "I doubt you'll get _that_ lucky." Nodding to the screen for them to pay attention. She didn't really know why her name wasn't embarrassing, but she knew for a fact that the other's wouldn't get so lucky.

_Especially,_ Reed and Ben.

As predicted, the conversation continued down a different path, "_Is it true about what they say about him? That he can expand ANY part of his anatomy?"_The girls around Johnny swooned, giggling at the statement.

Johnny chuckled, smirking, "_Well, I've always found him to be a little limp." _

Reed's eyes widened at the words having just come out of Johnny's mouth, his head tilting slight in response. He looked over to his sister – she really seemed to know how this guy's mind worked. It was a little frightening to be honest. "You were right."

"_Now, what is that?"_ The Reporter asked, finally bringing up a picture of Ben now, "_What do you call that thing?"_ Everyone in the crowd stopped with their swooning, interested to know what the answer would be. Looking between Johnny and the picture of Ben.

"_That's it,"_ Johnny waved his hands at the photo, his usual smirk plastered on those lips of his, "_**The thing**__._" June's jaw dropped in disbelief, she was_ so_ gonna have to smack him around the head VERY hard later, making sure it'll a bruise on that pretty little face of his, "_Yeah, you think this is bad – you should have seen him before."_

Ben acted calmly but inside … a storm was brewing … Ben was itching to literally kill that hothead now, "Okay," Now narrowing his eyes at the TV, "Now, I'm gonna go kill him." Without even waiting for someone to stop him, he left the room – intent on not stopping until Johnny finally got what he deserved.

The other three rushed to follow him. If they didn't … a catastrophe could happen and a massive fight between Ben and Johnny was not the type of attention they needed right now. Actually, no attention would be perfect … but that's _way_ too late now.

Ben and Johnny were going to kill each other … and soon.

…

The four were able to find Johnny pretty quickly when they reached the place the motorbike show was supposed to be happening - he was coming out of the complex as they approached. There was one thing that completely threw June for a loop, though - she saw no girls hanging off his arms, giggling like they usually did. He was on his own, but the girls still drooled over him. A pit of jealousy rumbled in her stomach but it was shoved down harshly.

"There he is." Sue pointed out, seeing her brother unknowingly approaching them. As they walked on, they never noticed that Ben had stopped right beside Johnny's shiny red car – the vehicle looked very much brand new.

_'Perfect'_ Ben thought to himself, smirking in his rocky features – putting his idea in motion as the others confronted the hothead.

"Johnny!" Sue exclaimed – she, June and Reed had finally reached him. They knew he noticed them, he just didn't pay much attention to their arrival – keeping his posture towards the cameras and fans.

"Can we talk about this later guys," Johnny smiled at the cameras, waving at them as they screamed out his name. "We can do this at home." Hoping they would leave him alone – he's been stuck inside that Baxter Building for _way_ too long. He needed to recover, you see.

June stayed silent but Sue continued to rant against him, "What were you thinking?!"

Johnny ignored his sister, looking around the grounds for his cherry red vehicle, "Where's my ride?" He asked no one in particular … he_ swore_ he parked it over to the side. But, it wasn't there.

Just then, a big red metal ball flew to a stop right in front of them, it was a crushed red car, courtesy of Ben Grimm. June just cringed at the sight, not looking forward to the fight that was sure to occur between her ex and brother's best friend. The number plate of the car hit Johnny on the back of his head. Well, at least he got hit harder than she would have been able to do.

Johnny was fuming the moment he realised what the pile of metal was - his beautiful cherry red car was now … _a pile of crap!_ "You think that's funny, Pebbles?!" He yelled towards Ben, the rocky figure who was slowly making his way towards him, ponding his rocky fists together … hard.

"Johnny!" Sue yelled, disappointed in her brother – he seemed to be racking up the disappointment points to a high number lately. "You gave us names?!" She was finally able to vent out her frustrations before Ben could try and beat him to a bloody pulp, "You don't think!" She exclaimed, "So now you're the face of the Fantastic Five?"

Ben was finally upon them, "A face that's about to be broken!" He snarled loudly, now letting out the anger from everything that's had happened to him – ever since the Von Doom incident, it was all breaking to the surface.

June turned to Johnny, "Look, this isn't permeant!" She insisted, finally speaking out. They couldn't stay like this – they needed to be normal again, and having powers was NOT normal. "We need to be careful until we're normal again." Although a part of her doesn't actually want to give up these powers. In some way, they really were cool. She could do practically anything she wanted to water because of them.

Johnny looked over to her, "Maybe I don't wanna be normal and I'm sure you don't either June." He turned towards Ben this time, "I didn't turn into a monster!" Ben gritted his teeth, moving forwards and about to punch the idiot – but stopped himself at the last second, not wanting to cause a bad show. He could almost hear Reed's voice in his head, trying to calm him down.

Ben started to walk away … trying to contain himself enough before he got away from this place. He needed to calm down.

Sue turned to her brother with a stern look, "Johnny, say you're sorry!" He ignored everyone before shooting a couple of fireballs at Ben's head just as the guy began to walk away from the fight. At this point, the orange guy turned around and let loose everything, his fury was now spiking over the limit.

June could only watch as Ben charged back over before punching Johnny; Reed had stepped in the way, making Ben's fist shoot straight through – still hitting the hothead in the stomach. Johnny went flying into the Burger King advertisement sign behind him, igniting the material on fire upon impact – he still wasn't fully in control of his powers as of yet.

Johnny and Ben were about to go another round but June got in between them, placing up her water barrier on both sides of her hands, "You two need to cool it, now!" She demanded in a hard tone, honestly tired of their attitudes towards one another – even though it was Johnny who had started everything. "He started it!" Johnny insisted with a childish wave of his hand, glaring into Ben's figure.

June turned to him, "No he didn't, Johnny!" She snapped back, vaguely seeing Sue run after Ben as the guy walked away from the scene. She let the water barrier's drop, the water splashing to the ground. "Your being so much of a hothead that you can't even see what really goes on around you! It's like I don't even know you anymore!" This wasn't the man she fell in love with – what happened to that man?! This person in front of her was like a child inside her ex's body!

"What happened to the guy that hated people like you are now? Huh?" She questioned, putting on a mock thinking face – she completely forgot that there was a crowd around them right now.

The Reporters were probably catching every juicy detail from her words.

She continued, not stopping to let him defend himself – he didn't deserve the luxury. "Oh, right? He walked out my door and left me heartbroken." She looked at him in a way that actually showed how hurt she was. Everything she's been feeling the moment she noticed him driving towards the mission – it was all starting to come back. Her buried emotions were pushing their way to the surface.

"Is this to try and get back at me for something?" She questioned, feeling salty water starting to accumulate over her orbs. "Because if it is … I have no idea what it's for!" She turned away from him, trying to stop herself from crying. Without another word and with no one stopping her, she began shoving her way through the crowd – trying to get away from them, leaving Johnny with her brother as she disappeared.

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	12. Intervention

**Fantastic 5 | The Storm is Rising | Intervention**

Johnny huffed with annoyance, looking down at the broken pieces of the prototype toy a couple of geeks had made for him. Ben had literally smashed it to smithereens, right into the wall with a clenched fist. He had just come out on the elevator – seeing Ben as the guy walked towards the stairway, heading back up to the apartment.

Without a word spoken – Ben disappeared up the stairway and completely ignored him again.

_Poor thing … what did 'The Thing' ever do to him?_

Johnny had been feeling moody all day; since the moment June had starting shouting at him earlier - saying all those things in front of everyone. He honestly had no idea what he was doing with his life anymore no matter how odd he acted. He loved June, no doubt about it. For the last couple of weeks, he hasn't really been the same and it was all his fault that their relationship ended the way it did … and how it was now.

How was he supposed to react when June was gonna go to college? One that was many miles away from him, how were they supposed to keep a regular relationship going? He knew long-term relationships never really survive and something bad always happens. So he figured … why not save the future heartbreak and deal with it then? But now, every fibre of his being was telling him to go back to her … to beg, plead and even cry for her to take him back.

He missed her so much that his heart always longed in her absence.

He missed waking up in the mornings with her snuggled under his arm - her head against his chest. He missed her AMAZING cooking, especially her bolognaise pasta dinners. He missed her silky brown hair and the days that they'd sit and tell each other about their days.

On the day he realised she would be coming back into his life, it felt like he was being given another shot. But, he knew June would never take him back, not after everything he's done to her. So, he made sure he couldn't be hurt again by her loss - by playing the hothead guy who seeks attention from everyone wherever he goes.

"Johnny?" Sue's familiar voice jolted him from the inner musings of his terrible and love-less life, "Have you seen Ben?"

Johnny turned to her with a snort, "Yeah, he left – broke my toy too." He shook his head, beginning to ignore her as he headed towards the front of the building. Sue had just come out of the next elevator, having seen him standing there with a hole in the wall next to him. "See ya, sister. I have somewhere to be." _'Sulking at the river side by myself'_, He thought glumly. "Besides, there's the _real world_ to get back to."

Sue stared towards his retreating body in disbelief, "You're calling _that_ the real world?" Referring to all the screaming fans, all those people wanting to know everything about their lives. That's not normal – that's insanity!

Johnny stopped, twisting back to her with an exasperated look, "Look, Sue – just _stop_." He told her, feeling his annoyance slowly rising. He just wanted to leave and be alone with his heartbreaking thoughts. "You're NOT mom and I'm not a _little boy_ who you can boss around."

His sister gritted her teeth in agitation, "Well, maybe if you stop acting like one and grow up … then, I would!" Finding the best chance to get an intervention in that might actually flood towards that tiny little brain of his. "Do you even hear yourself? Or even take a good look at the person you're becoming?" She slowly walked towards him, "Who do you think you are?" Bombarding him with question after question. This wasn't the little brother she knew a long time ago – what happened to him?

Johnny finally snapped, "Why is everyone on my ass?!" He shouted, feeling like everyone was actually starting to gang up on him. He knew deep down it's a deserved measure for some of the things he has done – but right now, he _really_ didn't want to hear it. "If you guys are jealous then that's fine - but I didn't expect it to come from you."

"You really think those people out there care about you?!" Sue knew they didn't, they were vultures and they liked the Fantastic Five – the superheroes that saved peoples lives with their amazing powers. She decided to take this opportunity for another approach, "And what about June, huh?" Her eyes narrowing, "When are you going to get your HEAD out of your ASS before you can see _that girl still loves you_!" By this time, the both of them were shouting.

Johnny scoffed under his breath, not willing to believe it – he's hurt her too much to even try. He was sure that no matter how much he begged, she still wouldn't take him back – on the outside, he's accepted the conclusion. But within … he really hadn't _and_ he didn't want to. "Doesn't matter anyway, it's too late – I've done too much to hurt her … I'm no good for her!"

Sue shook her head at him – that wasn't the truth at all. She knew for a fact that June still loved Johnny but was trying her hardest not to show it. "Then, why don't you do something good for her this time?" She suggested, her tone become softer but it still held a tint of anger towards him and how stupid he's been lately, "Show her that she means something to you - that you still want her."

Johnny denied his sisters advice - he knew he was no good for June. That was proved the moment he walked out the door the first time – he's coward hiding behind a cocky playboy facade. "I'm no good for her, Sue – she deserves someone better than me." And with that, he turned on his heels before walking out of the front entrance doors of the Baxter building.

Sue watched his burst out of the building sadly, shaking her head.

Johnny still had A LOT to learn.

**Before I forget: An appreciation notice goes out to one of my readers – honestly can't remember who suggested this – I've looked between all the reviews and my inbox and I found nothing. I know I didn't imagine it – but this was you who gave me the idea for June's superhero name to be {Aqua} Then I am personally thanking you.**


	13. Save Ben

**Fantastic 5 | The Storm is Rising | Save Ben**

June walked into the Baxter Building that night. She's been getting several calls from her brother, all of which left a five-minute voicemail to say how concerned for her he was. All she did was ignore them, texting Sue to say she would be out till sometime tonight – she just needed to have a long breather away from everything … and Johnny.

The brunette had strolled slowly along the river for the last couple of hours, several blocks away. She wore her favourite jacket with an attached hood, letting her easily hide her face from the crowd – the last thing she wanted right now was to recognised, then mobbed when they discover who she is.

Sue had told her what happened the other day when she went down to the local store, some of the bystanders recognised her - even followed her for several blocks – that was, until of course when she turned invisible and removed all her clothing. June didn't have the ability to become hidden from the world and the best she could do is jump into the river to avoid detection.

June had been thinking a lot lately, mostly about Johnny. But, who couldn't with that guy?

There was just something about him that made her feel safe and no matter how many times he hurts her; she still felt that bond still sticking strong. The feeling had unconsciously grown more from the moment she saw him again - during the trip to the Von Doom Station.

Sue had mentioned once that Johnny was a little like Reed - but the opposite, in a way. For Reed; there was the situation where he would add all the variables together for a match and he didn't seem to be able to get past that.

But … Johnny?

Johnny gets scared of commitment or being heartbroken in the end. He would add everything he's screwed up to make him seem like a bad person – trying to drive her away. He keeps trying but it never works. June wasn't convinced though, she just attempted not to think about it.

With a sigh, she pressed the _'Up_' button on the elevator, the door closed as normal before the enclosed box rose towards the loft apartment. Her head leant against the back of the wall - so many things were going around in her head.

But the one that really stood out was, _'Why can't Jonny love me the way I love him?' _Her heart constricted.

She craved happiness because she missed the past they had together … everything seemed so simple back then.

She honestly didn't know what was going on in that head of his. After the incident at the Von Doom Station; waking up to Johnny sitting next to her bed with that concerned look she knew all too well – it brought back so many memories. Too many things she wanted to keep buried down inside were already starting to fully return and it's going to break her in two is she isn't careful. Like a piece of glass shattering when something was thrown through it.

But, of course, the Universe never lets her have a break it seemed.

A long time ago she decided that; if Johnny wanted another chance with her – he has to _earn_ it. She couldn't keep going back and forth – it'll just confirm her fears and hurt her too much beyond repair. The scenario would be too painful for her fragile heart to handle.

A _ding_ snapped June out of her mind set and the doors slid open. Her feet carried her into the apartment, the place that she and her brother now co-owned. "Reed!" June called, not looking up as she rummaged through her shoulder bag, "I'm back!" The moment she looked up – she stumbled back in shock when she saw Victor and Ben standing there, but that wasn't the part that got her though. It was the fact that Ben had been reverted to his original human form while Victor had giant silver scars shaved onto his face.

Victor wore a cocky smirk on his face, looking as though something had planned out just the way he wanted it to.

Each of them turned to her and Ben turned, scared when he saw her come in. His eyes showed the fear but he wasn't scared for himself … it was for _her_. "Ahh.." Victor drawled, clicking his hands together as the unknown metal clashed loudly.

June slowly placed her shoulder bag back onto the entrance desk, never looking away as she took a few steps forward, "What have you done?" She demanded, seeing the machine she and Reed had been working on, begin to steam out – like someone has used it. That would have been the most logical assumption anyway, given by how Ben looks at this moment. She couldn't seem to figure out what happened to Victor, though.

"Oh, Junie." Victor now ignored Ben altogether, watching as June took another step forwards. June slowly started to make her way over to Ben, towards the front of him – keeping her wary gaze upon the metalized man. "I am so glad you arrived, but let me deal with Ben right now before I get to you."

June's eyes widened when she saw him about to hit Ben with electricity forming around his body. Without even thinking about it, she raised a water barrier between the two as the strike was initiated – her hand raised towards the direction, keeping the barrier strong. She quickly moved between them, behind her barrier that kept Ben out of harm. "Leave him alone." Her voice came out in a low hiss but the demand was clearly there - she wasn't going to let him hurt someone she called family.

The scarred man tilted his head at her, sending a shrug like there was no big deal. "How about we have a science lesson then. Welcome to lesson 101 … what happens when electricity connects with water?" He eyed her arms, the water was wrapped around her limbs as it continued to hold a strong barrier – the liquid was connected to her skin, which suddenly made her heart start to race with a very strong sense of foreboding. "Or even when a human stands in water … when a current flows through it?"

She didn't even get a chance to stop the water from flowing in time before Victor punched out his hand, connecting with the barrier with the electricity stolen from the machine. A scream rippled through June's throat, her body feeling like fire within her veins – the water that was connected to her body started flowing a current of deadly power.

The last thing June heard was someone shouting her name … before her whole world went dark.

Ben watched in horror as June's body went flying back into the wall, hard. You could see the volts of electricity still running throughout her body, even from where he was standing. After a few seconds – June's body ceased in movement, going completely still.

Ben's body literally froze, his head still turned towards his best friend's sister.

Victor turned back to Ben, still smirking with accomplishment. "One down … four to go."

A rocket of pain suddenly flashed through Ben's face before he felt his own body flying across the room and the last thing he heard was, _"Two down … three to go."_

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	14. Where's June and Reed?

**Fantastic 5 | The Storm is Rising | Where's June and Reed?**

Sue sprinted into the Baxter apartment and immediately noticed the same thing as June had - the machine had been used again. Before she left earlier, she had already put Reed into bed after the messed up experiment he insisted he'd try on himself … without re-checking the systems for miscalculations.

But right now, she had a terrible feeling that was bad and good - one of them was confirmed when she saw Ben laying across fallen shelving units, over to the side of the room. The place was a mess, with broken furniture and machinery everywhere around the room – a fight had definitely broken out. Sue just didn't know by whom, but knew that Ben was involved somehow.

"Ben!" She yelled as soon as she saw him, rushing over to make sure he was okay. The full force of his new appearance hasn't fully come to her yet - her mind was still running _way_ too fast to fully comprehend the notion.

As soon as Sue reached him, she bent down to take a pulse through the side of his neck – breathing a sigh of relief, she found it still beating strong. She smiled slightly when her brain caught up to the fact that the old Ben way laying there in front of her.

The machine was still spouting out a mist from inside, but less than before. She didn't know how this really happened, especially when it hadn't worked for Reed beforehand – but why did that have to matter right now? Ben was back to his normal self again!

_"Sue?!"_ Johnny's familiar voice called out from the elevator, the one she had just gotten off. She felt a breeze flow through her hair, it was like a cold and windy draft. She didn't realize that there was a gaping hole in the glass window behind her.

"Johnny!" She beamed, still excited to see that Ben was back to Ben again - watching her brother cross the threshold, "The machine worked!" Forgetting about their earlier fight for the moment too.

Johnny started to jog over to her when he heard the tone of her voice - his facial features shifted between confused and surprised. His head turning side to side when he noted how destroyed the room looked, wondering what the hell happened. "Give me a hand - come on!"

Johnny picked up his speed, now heading over to his sister - he couldn't help but feel a sense of foreboding as he crossed into the room … it almost felt like he was missing something. His gut churned uncomfortably, he didn't exactly know why though. As he arrived next to Ben and his sister, he grabbed one of the big guy's arms while his sister held onto the other. They pulled him up from the wreckage but received a groan of pain in return.

Ben was starting to wake up.

Ben felt stiff as he drowsily woke up, his back was soaring with pain after having been thrown like a rag doll across the room. His face could still feel the indent of Victor's fist. He couldn't remember anything - only of what had happened when his body shifted back into his human body. _"Put him on the step."_ He vaguely heard Johnny say, his body being moved into a sitting position. Pressure was painfully being pierced into his back from the step behind.

"So, what happened Benny?" Johnny questioned with a tease, his mind trying to get away from the mess of the room and the uncertainty his insides were feeling. "I leave you for five minutes-" He patted his hand on Ben's shoulder to make sure the man stayed up right.

Ben blinked when his mind started to fully work again – his body becoming more active towards his surroundings and the previous events. "June-" He croaked suddenly as the memory of what happened flooded back to him like a wave. His head twisting to every possible direction as he tried to find her, even in the midst of all the rubble. Any air in his body seemed to leave his system within seconds when he couldn't see her, even at the place Victor made her slam into a wall from.

"Where is she?" He continued, horror rising up from his stomach, temporarily forgetting about his own injuries. He remembered her flying across the room after being electrocuted by Victor; her chest ceasing in movement and the flares of blue lightning that flowed through her body with a bold glare. His heart thumped against his chest, salty liquid on the break of exploding from his eyes – praying to whatever God that was out there that she was still alive.

Sue's stomach dropped, "What do you mean?" Looking up at her brother, he stared at Ben's horrified features – his own skin paling several tones, finally seeming to realise where this bad feeling was coming from. Something had happened to his other half – something his heart unintentionally froze on.

"The machine," Ben started, trying to get his head more into gear, he couldn't see June anywhere - even as Sue and Johnny looked around too – June was gone. "Vic used it on himself … he was infected by the cloud like _us_." How did he not see it before? He should have noticed something when Victor showed up at the Café – Victor Von Doom never did anything for someone else … not if he had a personal gain. He should have known that before agreeing to anything.

He never should have agreed to go in that machine … at all! He knew that now - but now everything's screwed up beyond compare.

"Then where's June?" Johnny snapped, his fists clenching. His heart felt like exploding with worry, her pain filled eyes flashing through his own as a part of his mind started to imagine what could have happened to her.

What could have happened to take her away from him?

The big guy shook his head, a hand wiping over his face so hard that his nails scraped against the skin, "I-I don't know, the last thing I remember is her flying across the room – there was electricity flowing through her … s-she-" Unable to continue - even he knew that when someone was electrocuted that bad – the person would most likely dead or have had an early heart attack. Her chest was barley rising for what he could remember … that couldn't mean…?

Both Storm siblings looked sick with unwanted grief; June had to still be alive – where would her body be then if she were in fact dead? The dead can't move!

Sue suddenly remember Reed, "Wait, where's Reed?" He must be here somewhere! Reed would never have let anything happen to his sister.

Ben looked distraught, "Vic must have taken him-" It the only explanation that came to mind, "He must have June too because she would be here otherwise." He looked up as he spoke, his blurred vision catching the large hole in one of the big windows. He could feel the draft from here now that he thought about it…

…

Sue and Johnny climbed through the large hole in the window – Johnny was hoping to find June out there but he saw no one at all, just thousands of glass shards littering the ground. He couldn't take knowing that she might be dead … he wouldn't be able to take it knowing that she's dead either.

In union, they looked up at the hole from the outside and realised that Reed must have been thrown through it. The hole was big enough for someone as big as Reed to fly through. Each of them were growing in hate towards Victor; Johnny more so from the moment he found out that the bastard hurt his Junie.

…

_Several blocks away from the Baxter Building; the water beneath the City bridge held something that would devastate the family of the Fantastic Five. On the seabed; a body laid upon it. Fishes and debris swam around the body, the female's hair flowing with the current as her eyes remained closed. The body drifted a little at the force of the flow; her skin was pale and white, cold and lifeless like a dead being would be._

_And that body; belonged to June Richards…_

**CLIMAX! Oh, I am so mean. lol**

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	15. The End to Victor Von Doom?

**Fantastic 5 | The Storm is Rising | The End to Victor Von Doom?**

"_Three down … two to go …" Victor Von Doom muttered to himself with pride – his gaze lingered on the huge fireball in the middle of the ocean. The combustion of Johnny Storm._

Back in the Von Doom building; in the very office all this had begun from was Reed Richards tied to the desk chair – his hands and feet bound to the object. Frozen stiff, like a frozen Popsicle. Every part of his body was icy blue, his skin layered with frosty ice and his hair stiffer than Jack Frost's true personality.

Reed didn't remember much of what had happened, only that he had been knocked out by something. He vaguely remembered Victor; and coming to the conclusion he was behind his frozen behind and this was logical because he was definitely in the idiot's work room; inside the Doom Tower. For all the wakened 30 minutes he had been there, freezing – a pit in his stomach got worse and worse. Something in his gut was churning – _every_ time when he thought about his sister's safety. He felt that something bad had happened, and judging on how he's ended up – it was completely plausible. But not something he wanted to believe sitting there with all his thoughts.

He was jogged out of his head when a rustle caught his ears, as painful as it was, he looked to the side slowly. He watched the switch turn off at the canister, the substance that had made him frozen was being cut off – by nothing? Susan! If he could at that moment, his eyes would have widened – scared for her safety much like he was frightened for what had happened to his sister.

The bounds around his extremities were being released also. "Sue…" He croaked, his voice barley above a whisper.

Sue stayed hidden within her powers, "What has he done to you?" She breathed to herself quietly, a nick in her voice that told anyone she was scared for Reed more than herself in this situation.

"How romantic?" A voice drawled behind them, initiating Sue's instincts in turning her around to the assailant. In the process her powers sunk away, going back to her original human body self.

Sue swallowed hard, resisting the urge to violently jump him then and there – not caring if she got hurt of not. He had done something to the girl she considered a sister – someone she knew her brother loved very much no matter how much he denied it. And now, he was hurting the one she loved more than anything in the whole world – her genius; Reed Richards. "Victor, please…" Maybe that crush he had on her would still give her some leverage, it was worth a shot if it meant getting out of there alive and Victor away from them for good.

Victor walked into the lightened area; he was wearing a black overall coat with two gold circular badges on either side of his chest – he had a hood attached to the coat, but underneath was what looked to be a mask made out of some kind of metal. "Call me … Doom." He insisted.

"The machine works," Maybe they could bring him back to normal – bring back whatever good was left inside the man before things got ugly or will get ugly. "It's worked on ben, and it can work on you." She paused, trying to imagine what his facial expressions were like at that point. She couldn't see anything; nothing apart from his body movements that screamed he was in charge of the situation. "We can turn you back."

Reed could feel a little more; his limbs becoming a tiny bit more movable, now that the substance had been cut off from his body. His head slowly turned towards the Baxter building, noticing large flickers of light evolving around the top part – the part where they're apartment was. This time he did feel his eye widen at the prospect of what was happening up there.

Victor chuckled, darkness valid in his tone, "Do you really think fate turned us into God's so that we could refuse these gifts?" He questioned. He slowly began towards Susan, approaching at a strolling pace.

Susan scoffed, "June was right; you've always thought of yourself as a God. Nothing's changed." Her eyes narrowing in accusation.

"Ah … June." Victor began, a little delightfulness empathising on his words. There was one thing that both Sue and Reed could identify thought was – smugness. "That little firecracker has finally gone into the light, so to speak."

Reed began to move his fingers numbly, he could start speaking a little more, "W-What do y-you mean...?" He croaked, speaking hurt but that tone Victor was wearing and the way he said those words – that feeling in his gut just became more pronounced in a second.

"Let's just say…" He smirked under his mask, "You'll never see her alive again – I've made sure to that." He watched as Sue's mouth dropped in horror and the pain filling the brother's eyes – Victor practically reveled in it, "She was the first to go in fact and a lesson was taught. Science 102: What happens when water touched electricity? … I think you can figure it out for yourselves."

Sue veins bubbled up with rage and grief, her mind was practically fuming at what Victor was saying – she didn't want to believe it - she couldn't. "You bastard!" She seethed, tears lining against her pupils. She drew in all her energy and threw it at him – making him fly back into the closest wall of the office, knocking down several wooden chairs and shattering a window in the process.

Victor was pissed, "Susan." He paused, bringing his own powers into play – a much more powerful energy; electricity. "You're fired." He noted, throwing what he had at the blonde, throwing_her_ this time into a wall – her back breaking on one of the masterpieces in the corner. "And to think…" He spoke, slowly walking towards the injured member of the Fantastic Five. She will be his fourth – and then there will only be Reed left to deal with. "…I was about to share my life with you."

Susan looked up from her position, every part of her limbs screaming in pain. She saw him slowly move towards her, meaning there was only one thing left to do at that moment – become invisible.

Victor breathed an irritated sigh, honing in with his hearing and eyesight to catch even the glimpse of movement in the nothingness. "Marco…" He mocked, casually glancing around at every corner. "Polo…" He was about to repeat the words again but several flocks of blue forces pushed him back – the energy contained within not even making a scratch on his sensory radar.

He forced out his hand, aiming his force into her body when he found the place she was hiding from – electrifying her enough so her cover started to come down. He kept a hold on her, not letting the woman slip out of his grasp. Sue groaned as his hand grabbed her throat; she gasped and choked for needed air – darkness was beginning to flood her vision. He leant into her face, ridding her of the personal space she still had left from him – "Did you say goodbye to your brother Johnny?"

All Sue could do was let the crushing feeling get to her from before – Johnny? No! He can't be… Her thoughts were cut short as her body was thrown across the room again, this time landing next to Reed still stationed in the chair. Her eyes met his – pain and sorrow bouncing in each other's souls.

"It's time to end this." Victor announced, getting himself ready to finally kill that blithering idiot - Reed Richards, and the one he once cared for - Susan Storm. He was about to strike when a loud boom formed behind him; bricks and plaster dust flying everywhere. He turned, and was shocked to find out who had burst through his wall. Ben Grimm and he was back to his orange-self.

"No Vick," He growled menacingly; rolling back his rocky shoulders. He now knew it was the right decision to become this 'thing' again; his friends – his family needed help and will always need him. And that was something he was going to give them. "It's clobbering time." He roared, thrusting out his arm – punching Victor in the stomach so hard that he flew all the way across the large room - all the way to the other side.

Victor's body even dented the large wall-size silver 'V' several inches from what it used to be. Satisfaction filled him, it felt like he had been waiting to do this all his whole life. "Damn – that felt good." He admired the dent in the wall – he really did punch the guy hard. He couldn't wait to tell June when they find her. He didn't know what Reed and Sue knew, neither did he know about Johnny's potential fate either….

Victor crumbled to the ground, the breath inside him actually struggling to get out for a moment. The large silver 'V' plate released from the wall – tumbling down and flattening the bastard that hurt June and Johnny; and well, pretty much all of them.

Clapping his large hands together, he looked over to Susan and Reed. "Susie!" He exclaimed, going straight over to them, "Are you okay?" Looking between the two, but mostly to Reed who still looked like a frozen duck.

Ben ripped out the cords connecting the chair to the gas container completely, giving Reed the chance to thaw out properly and quickly. "Victor ain't that bad, huh? He's just a little larger than life, right?" He raised an eyebrow, "Wasn't it something like; the complete opposite that June and I told you. Don't trust the man, huh?"

"So maybe next time you'll start listening to us before…" He paused, finally noticing Sue's grief ridden look and the tears rowing down in his best friend's skin. "What?..."

Sue licked her lips, forcing herself not to cry at the possibility, "June she …" She couldn't even say it; she couldn't make it real. She had to believe her best friend was still alive; just waiting for them to get rid of Victor and help her.

Reed was finally able to swallow, his ability to talk getting clearer. "Victor said she's gone to the light…" He paused, a warm tear falling down his frozen cheek. "That's she's…" He couldn't even bring himself to say it himself.

Ben finally got what they were saying; he instinctively took a step back at the news … shocked and pained like the others. The lights in the building began to flicker on and off for a few seconds; all before shutting off completely.

"Ben!" Sue yelled; just as the dark figure behind Ben grabbed him and threw him out the window, tumbling out and plummeting towards the ground.

…

Victor Von Doom stood in the middle of the city's main centre, hot fires and the smell of blood lingering in the air from all the crushed wreckage. Cars were combusting into flames, people were screaming for their loved ones' safety and most of all, the imminent danger was upon the unsuspecting crowd. Ben was laying on the ground, in a hulk-made crater. Victor lifted a street light pole, intent on piercing through the orange rock known as Ben.

Ben actually felt a little hazy after the impact, obviously he isn't as invincible as he had originally thought. "Goodbye, Ben." He could vaguely hear past his drifting conscious mind.

A voice sounded behind Victor, "I can't let you do that!"

"Reed?" Victor raised an eyebrow in surprise and glanced over his shoulder, seeing the man in question standing there all ripe and normal again. Shame… "I'll be right with you…" He called back carelessly, turning back to start again with his attempt to pierce the rock with his make-shift spear.

As he tried, he found that he couldn't – a force of light struck, the piece of metal hitting something similar to Sue's force field. He sighed, already knowing who was behind it, "Hello, Susan." Gritting his teeth in aggravation. He looked between all three of the remaining Fantastic Five crew, "You three really are pathetic!" He started moving towards Reed and Sue but was stopped when a large fireball hit his side; making him stumble back in a momentary reaction surprise.

Everyone looked up to see a flying fireball of a man coming towards them, and landing like a pro next to Reed. It was Johnny. He reverted back to normal self just as Victor glanced at his arm; seeing it completely covered in metal. "Oh, come on … you missed me." Johnny looked pissed; Sue had never seen her brother like this. It's like he knew exactly what Victor had done to June without even telling him. He must have had the same feeling as they had when it came to what happened to her.

Victor was seething by now. Ben Grimm should have been disposed of and so should have Johnny Storm! Everything was NOT going according to plan. "I'm going to DESTROY you ALL!" He shouted in rage, bringing in all the electricity like before. He threw it at the four standing in front of him – but all was stopped when a VERY large wall of water rose up from the ground and up some more – it was thick and icy, the electricity flowed through it like a large current. Everything stopped for a second; just before Victor found himself thrown back once again – he was being hit by that very same current.

Victor made an animalistic growl as he looked up to his annoying attacker – realising that only one person can make something like that.

"Miss _me_, bone head?" A female spoke behind the fellow four members of the Fantastic Five. A very familiar one at that.

"June…" Susan gasped in relief, twisting round with the others to spot the familiar being of they're family. June looked worse for wear; her hair was messy like she had just gone through something rough, there were dark bags under her eyes but everyone could see how pale she was. If you'd ask someone what she resembled as; people would probably say she resembled a corpse. And like the others, she wore the Fantastic Five uniform.

Reed didn't even stop himself before throwing his arms around his little sister and pulling her to his chest. He tightened the grip; not caring that Victor was beginning to regain his strength back. He was just overjoyed to hear that Victor was wrong about her being dead. "Oh, thank God." He kept mumbling into her hair, tears of joy rolling down his cheeks – his heart pounded against his chest, relieved to have his little sister back in his arms.

June breathed in her brother's scent deeply, acting like it had been a long time since she had touched a person. She couldn't remember what had happened - only that she had awoken at the bottom of the sea, gasping for air and her lungs filling up with water at a fast rate. Her vison darkened and that's when everything drew to a blank.

Finally, her brother pulled back, making her feel empty once again.

Johnny took a step forwards towards her; acting a little timid in his moves. "June?" He whispered, wondering if she was really standing there. Everything pointed to her being … like Reed had said, _'Thank God!'_

June gave him a small smile, almost shyly – something about the anger just seemed to melt away when she looked at him. Like something had happened that made her realise that a section of her being had broken; something that needed to be fixed. And looking at Johnny, weirdly she just felt right and whole again. "Hi, Johnny."

It was his turn to pull her towards him; gripping her tightly within his arms – intent on not letting her go again. How could he have been so stupid? He loved June! It's always been June, so how could he have been such a dumbass and nearly lose her like that. He could see clearly now; if there was one thing to fight for in this world – it was his Junie. "I'm never letting you go again." He whispered in her ear. "Never."

A salty tear rolled down June's cheek, the smile becoming more pronounced as her heart soured. This time – she really did believe him to go all the way.

Victor cleared his throat; seemingly impatient. "If you're done with the family mess; I'd like to get this over with and win."

June pulled away from Johnny, ignoring the loss of heat from his body. "Me too; but here's the thing – you'll lose Victor. You_ always_ do." She stood between Johnny and her brother, reluctantly letting go of her lover's hand.

He scoffed and smirked under the mask, "This is going to be fun." Raising his arms up, letting the nearby electricity and energy fill his veins with shots of lighting filling the streets. He threw individual bolts of lightning towards Ben, Sue and Johnny as they tried to run at him. He sent the next bolt towards June with more force.

June instantly brought up an icy water barrier upon instinct – blocking the bolt from hitting her in the chest. Something flashed before her eyes making her groan, her head started to pound…

_June didn't even get a chance to stop the water from flowing in time before Victor punched out his hand as it connected with the barrier – his whole body radiating with electricity stolen from the machine – a scream rippled through her throat as her body felt like fire. The last thing she heard was someone shouting her__name,__before her whole world went dark._

As the flash fluttered away she still held up a barrier, a stifled gasp retreated from her lips in the process. Her body tensed, a fear lining in her gut. The pressure from the barrier began to build, "I can't hold it much longer!" She shouted, grunting as her knee hit the paved ground – the pounding in her head becoming more pronounced.

Reed reacted instantly by throwing his arm over to a post box on the other side of the street before throwing it at Victor, stopping the energy from touching his sister immediately. He used his flexible body to roll and cover Victor with himself like a piece of cloth, stopping the man from inflicting any more pain on the ones he loved. He twisted his head over to Johnny who now stood up, prepared for anything that would happen next. "Johnny!" He shouted, "Supernova!" He knew it probably wouldn't be the best thing but right now, it's all they had left. There was only one plan left in his head after all this.

Johnny raised a shocked eyebrow, "I thought we all agreed that it was a bad idea?!" Completely confused – wouldn't it toast the Earth or something? Wasn't that something along the lines of what they said?

"Johnny! Just do it!" June yelled to him, still panting from the exertion she put into that shield – she quickly heaved herself up into a standing position, trying to ignore the pain in her body from the exertion.

That was all he needed. Johnny shot off to work - flaming up and shooting upwards to start.

"Ben!" Reed called, giving his friend the go ahead to rip him off Victor as Johnny began to come down again. He reached for Ben's arms and pulled himself off the metal man as fast as he could.

Johnny flew around, around and around Victor and simply just kept going. The heat inside the circle was becoming _'supernova'_ hot and Victor's entire body was now stripped to the metal embedded in his skin.

Reid glanced over to his girls, "Sue! June!" He called over to them loudly over the noise of Victor's roars of annoyance and struggle, "Think you can contain it?!" The girls didn't even need to be asked twice as they both began to create similar barriers to contain the fire within.

Everything was stopped as Johnny flew out of the barrier; the force field crumbling down as both Sue and June got identical nose bleeds – much like with what happened on the bridge, they were both taking it too hard on their body's capability's.

June felt drained, feeling exactly the way Sue felt at that point. She just wanted to curl up in her bed and sleep until noon tomorrow.

As the flaming circle died down; Victor was left standing in the middle glowing yellow and orange – signifying that he was volcanically piping hot. "Is that the best you can do?" He taunted, it didn't even sting – all it did was merely become uncomfortable and annoying. "A little heat?"

Reed stepped forwards, using the same technique Victor had used on him, "Time for your lesson – Chem 101."

June blinked at the familiarity of those words from beside Johnny who had taken up putting his arm around her swaying body, not noticing her wiping away the blood dripping down her nose.

_The scarred man tilted his head at her, sending a shrug like there was no big deal. "How about we have a science lesson then. Welcome to lesson 101 … what happens when electricity connects with water?" He eyed her arms, the water was wrapped around her limbs as it continued to hold a strong barrier – the liquid was connected to her skin, which suddenly made her heart start to race with a very strong sense of foreboding. "Or even when a human stands in water … when a current flows through it?"_

She quickly shook her head; it must be what she's been forgetting about how she ended up wherever she was. She couldn't quite remember. Maybe everything would eventually come to her?

"What happens when you rapidly cool hot metal?"

Ben kicked off the top of the fire hydrant, releasing a gush of water from the city's underground system for firefighters. June saw her brother use his own body to direct the water at Victor; she knew what would happen to him now. So to help, she took a step forwards away from Johnny but keeping one of her hands in his – she shifted the water with her powers to form a very large square bubble around the bastard who made their lives a pain. As Victor began to cease in movement; she twisted her hand again and froze the water into the hard water glass, which was something a hundred times harder to break than ice itself.

Ben crushed the fire hydrant in on itself to stop the water from coming out and Reid slinked back into his normal shape. In the middle of the road, there left in the centre was a live statue of Victor Von Doom encased in a water glass dome; frozen for a VERY long time.

"Woah!" Ben raised an eyebrow at the sight of Victor stuck in the square dome, looking smugly at him. The guy wouldn't be bothering them again, not for a very long time. Hopefully ever…

June breathed a sigh of relief, her head leaning into Johnny's shoulder once again, momentarily closing her eyes to relish in the fact that they were all alive. Johnny kept his arm around her tight; feeling that if he let go of her for a second – he would lose her again, and for good this time. He couldn't take that – not again.

Ben came over to them; looking at Johnny first – clapping on the shoulder that wasn't protecting Reed's little sister. "You did good kid." He told the former stud before turning to June, "You to, Squirt."

June rolled her eyes at the name, "I'm still only three years younger than all of you." She chuckled slightly, "But thanks anyway." She shifted herself so she was only holding Johnny's hand – something of which she could deal with, she didn't want to let him go. Whenever she did now, a scared feeling creeped up inside before she could stop it. She didn't know why though. "Come on, let's go over to Reed and Sue" She nodded over to her brother, the one who was helping Sue onto her feet.

As they all grouped together near Victor's statue – the crowd around them began cheering – the amount of people becoming louder and louder as each second passed. June put a hand up to one of her ears, wincing at the volume everyone was making. What was wrong with her today?

Johnny shook his head, looking around, "Man…" Smiling at the attention they were getting, "I LOVE this job!"

Ben turned to him, hearing his choice of words, "Job, huh?"

Reed shrugged, looking to be considering it, "Well, we do have the suits."

June nodded towards Sue who gave her a small shrug; neither woman seemed to mind saving people – maybe it would be a very fulfilling job. Apart from the headache June was starting to get from the loud noises, everything felt as if it will eventually turn out fine…

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	16. The New Light of Day

**Fantastic 5 | The Storm is Rising | The New Light of Day**

The party was in full swing by near midnight; people were dancing to the music, swaying with they're partners and gulping various alcohols down they're throats. The party itself was situated on a boat, the slight rumble that ran through the floor was the engine drifting them over the sea.

By this point June had already chugged down at least two shots to calm her nerves – there was something about the sea now that unsettled her. When it came to using her powers, she was completely fine and calm – but when it came to being in close proximity of the salty liquid, it just unnerved her deeply. And, being on this party boat wasn't making her fears feel better.

June stood next to Sue at the bar; they had finally been given the chance to meet the one who's been swooning over Ben. The blonde and brunette really liked her – Alisha Masters was her name. She was an African America; blinded in both her eyes because of an accident in her childhood. She was very skilled in seeing without her vision; that was the one thing that astounded both women. And they couldn't help but think; Ben really has found the one. June could see the evident chemistry between them. Debra never deserved someone as good as Ben; and that was confirmed when the woman left him immediately after his changed appearance. If you really loved someone, you couldn't walk away.

The bartender leaned against the counter, "Want another, sweethearts?" Glancing between the three lovely ladies in front of him. As far as he was concerned; they were the only pretty women on this boat.

Alisha let out a small giggle, feeling slightly intoxicated but still clear headed. Two shots were enough for her. "I don't think so, thanks."

Sue glanced at June before turning to the bartender, "We'll just have a glass of champagne each, thank you."

He nodded, "Sure, thing." Pouring two glasses of the best champagne he had behind the counter. Placing the glasses in front of the blonde and brunette before moving away to attend with other customers waiting for a drink or two.

June picked up her glass, taking a sip when suddenly arms wrapped around her waist, startling her slightly. A head leant into her neck, her back leaning against their chest, "Having a good time?" The familiar voice of Johnny spoke into her ear. He had a beer in his hand not even half-way through. They never noticed Sue and Alisha slip away to see their own men.

Her eyes flickered outside the glass pained door, the water was clear as day even though night had already fallen. "Sure, yeah." Trying to be convincing. The party would be better if it wasn't on the sea.

Johnny raised an eyebrow, seeing the lie. "You're lying – what's up?" He questioned, concerned. June loved parties from what he could remember and this was the first time they've been to a party together since they broke up – but partying was something that's a part of her, something he didn't think would slip away that easily.

"The sky." She retorted playfully, trying to pass off on the subject. She had been keeping it all to herself, even though she had become close to Johnny once again. It felt stupid to be afraid of the water, especially when her powers were all to do with the very same substance.

"June." He pressed, not pushing away from the subject.

June sighed, moving to sit on one of the bar stools, gazing around to everyone having fun as she spoke. "The party itself is great, it's just…" She paused, her sight looking at the water again. Her shoulders slumped in defeat, there was no keeping this to herself now. "Johnny, I can't remember much of what happened." Speaking from when everything finished with Victor Von Doom; about her short disappearance. She shrugged, "All I can remember is being in that ocean … drowning. I couldn't breathe, I couldn't scream for help – there was just darkness." She gave a short unamused laugh, "I can't even remember how I even survived Victor electrocuting me. I should have died from that …" Shaking her head slightly, "…I could have been for all I know. But, all I know is that I'm scared of the water and I don't really know why." A tear fell down her cheek, she looked down in shame at the prospect of her fear.

Johnny's heart constricted hearing her words. There hadn't really been any talk of what happened to her after the incident Ben witnessed at the Baxter building; everyone, including him was just glad to have her back alive and well. He hadn't fully realised that there was something deeper. He gently grasped her chin and lifted her head, only so much that his eyes met hers. "We'll figure it out." He told her, maybe there was a way to trigger those memories and bring them back. She had gone through something terrible and tragic, it would make sense that her memory was scattered in pieces. "Together."

June let out a deep breath, feeling like all her worries were washing away. "Okay." She said quietly, feeling his fingers wipe away the tears that fell down her cheeks. She was about to say something else until she noticed everyone starting to gather round the door to outside. She watched as Sue put on a ring in her invisible form and Reed kneeled on his left knee, quickly followed by a searing kiss. "Oh, my god." She exclaimed, blinking rapidly, realising what was happening to her older brother and best friend.

Johnny looked a little shocked when he realised too, "Well," He paused, "Looks like our siblings are getting hitched, huh?" He wiggled his eyebrows.

June couldn't help but let out a chuckle, already feeling better – she smacked the back of her hand lightly against his chest at the way he said that. She took a deep breath to calm herself and gestured outside to him, "Let's go congratulate them."

Johnny took her hand, "You sure?" Come to think of it, she did look a little pale.

She nodded, confidently. Grabbing onto his hand and pulling him with her, all the way outside. She ignored her instincts that screamed at her to go back inside.

June let go of Johnny's hand for a moment to give both her brother and Sue a hug, "Congratulations." Completely pleased that they were FINALLY going to be together after all this time. But it did make her think about her own future – would Johnny ever propose to her sometime in the future or will their relationship crumble again? She didn't think it would, but she knew that fate and destiny could never be a straight line. Anything was possible.

Johnny stood next to Ben, watching June interact with her brother and his sister.

Ben turned to him slightly, Alisha still cuddled in his side, "Hey," He got the younger boy's attention, "No more wisecracks about the way I look from now on – understand?"

"Hey," Johnny smirked playfully, "Just call me Mr. Sensitivity." He tried to keep his amusement contained as his plan began to roll. He had been waiting for Ben to say that all week when they've been around crowds. He turned towards the exit, pushing through several people, "Okay!" He shouted loudly, the volume was so high that the whole boat could probably hear him. "Wide load coming through. Everybody move, he's huge." Using his arms to exaggerate with his speech.

Ben narrowed his eyes, annoyance growing in his system. He let go of Alisha before charging the way Johnny went, intent on bashing the guy's face in. "Come here, Mr. Sensitive." He taunted. He knew the guy was just messing around – well, back at him. He can mess around too.

Johnny sent June a wink before flying into the air, "Flame on!" He shot into the sky like a fireball.

Ben stopped looking up, scoffing, "Show off!" He yelled into the sky.

June smiled into the sky, wrapping her arms around herself but keeping away from the edge of the deck and near the water, "Yeah, he is." She whispered into the air, watching Johnny create a very large '5' in the middle of the sky with a ring of fire around it.

He was a definitely a _'Show Off'_, but he was HER _show off_.

And that … she was more than okay with.

**X- Quote -X**

_So it's not gonna be easy._

_It's gonna be really hard._

_We're gonna have to work at this every day, but I want to do that because I want you._

_I want all of you, forever, you and me,_

_Everyday…_

**_Ryan Gosling, The Notebook_**

* * *

><p><span><strong>Final Note…<strong>

**1 # 'To Have and To Hold" contains a SEX SCENE between Johnny and June for the last chapter. I didn't feel like I should have included it in this one, just in case anyone doesn't like/isn't old enough for that kind of content. The story will be under my stories (for wattpad - check out my Quotev or Fanfiction accounts!)**

**2# Sequel, 'The Storm Ignites' is now up and COMPLETE!**

**3# Thank you everyone SO MUCH or all the supports I've gotten throughout Johnny and June's journey! I really appretiate every response I get!**

**X-Lisa-Anne-X**


	17. TO HAVE AND TO HOLD

**SPIN-OFF ONE-SHOT -** TO HAVE AND TO HOLD

**Summary:** Scene/s from 'The Love of a Storm' series. Rated M. Sexual Content Inside.

**_*Read the Author's Notes in previous chapters to know what it is about!*_**


	18. SEQUEL and OTHER STORY

**SEQUEL - **'The Storm Ignites'

**Summary:** Two years have gone by. Reed and Sue are getting married, Ben and Alicia are still happily together. As for June and Johnny; they were at their happiest – together and in love. But what happens when a 'silver surfer' enters the world of the Fantastic Five. People are going to get hurt; by the end of this hearts will break - but will they be fixed?

...

**OTHER STORY -** 'Dawn of a New Day' **[Vampire Diaries Fanfic]**

**Summary:** Olivia Gilbert, the twin sister of Elena Gilbert has a secret. One that began one month before the crash that killed her parents and nearly drowned her sister. This secret is big, if it got out, she was dead. And this secret ... she was a vampire ...


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